BX 

8080 

.H49 

L35 

.  1903    . 

LIBRARY  OF   THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


BX  8080  .H49  L35  1903 
Lambert,  William  A. 
Life  of  Rev.  J.F.C.  Heyer , 
M.D. 


LIFE 


REV.  J^FfcffiEYER,  M.  D. 


REV.  W.  A.  LAMBERT,  B.  A. 


Prepared  for  the  Father  Heyer  Missionary  Society  of  the  Lutheran 
Theological  Seminary  at  Mount  Airy,  Philadelphia. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
1903. 


Published  expressly  for  subscribers  of  The  Lutheran  Church  Revieiv. 


Note, 


A  Life  of  Father  Heyer  needs  no  apology ;  excuse  ought 
rather  be  offered  for  not  having  one  before  this.  But  his 
great  predecessor  in  India,  C.  F.  Schwartz,  waited  even  longer 
for  a  biographer ;  it  was  thirty-five  years  after  his  death  before 
his  life  was  published  by  Dr.  Pearson  in  1833.  The  present 
life  was  undertaken  by  the  Father  Heyer  Missionary  Society, 
of  Mt.  Airy  Seminary,  in  1896,  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr, 
Jacobs.  A  committee  of  six  was  appointed  in  that  year  to 
gather  materials  for  a  life.  The  following  year  a  new  com- 
mittee was  appointed  with  the  writer  as  chairman;  the  work 
was  distributed  among  the  members,  note-books  procured  and 
materials  gathered.  In  the  spring  of  1898  the  writer  left  the 
seminary,  but  was  retained  on  the  committee.  Since  then  he 
has  continued  the  work  alone,  using  the  materials  already  in 
hand  and  gathering  others.  In  1900  the  society  authorized 
him  to  publish  a  life  such  as  he  could  prepare. 

Sources  for  the  life  were  not  wanting,  but  they  are  so 
scattered  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  consult  and  use  them 
as  they  deserve ;  my  note-books  contain  many  references  to 
articles  which  have  at  the  time  when  most  needed  been  out 
of  reach.     The  following  list  gives  the  chief  sources : 

Autobiographical  sketches   in   the  "Lutherische  Zeitschrift,"   1865, 

'67  and  '68. 
An  Introduction  to  the  History  of  the  Lutheran  Mission  among  the 

Telugus;   also  in  the  "Zeitschrift,"  1869. 
MS.     Autobiography,  covering  early  life,  in  possession  of  Rev.  Wis- 

chan,  Philadelphia,  who  used  it  in  preparing  the  sketch  in  his 

Life  of  Groening. 
MS.    History  of  Am.  Lutheran  Missions  in  India,  now  in  the  Arch- 
ives at   Mt.    Airy.     Described   by   Dr.   Jacobs    In   the   Lutheran 

Review,  Jan.,  1900,  pp.  50-62. 
MS.    Letters,  etc.,  in  Mt.  Airy  and  Gettysburg. 
Conteanporary  Church  Papers,  especially  the  Lutheran  GbBerrer  and 

the  Lutherische  Zeitschrift, 


▲  number  of  letters  from  various  men,  especially  one  from  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Schmidt,  of  Rajahmundry,  India,  in  which  he  gives  remin- 
iscences of  Father  Heyer.  Also  one  from  the  pastor  of  the  Ste- 
phanus-Kirche  in  Helmstedt,  transcribing  the  entrances  upon 
the  Church  records  referring  to  Father  Heyer.  Rev.  J.  P. 
Hentz  furnished  a  copy  of  several  papers  and  extensive  remin- 
iscences. All  these  papers  will  be  placed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Father  Heyer  Missionary  Society.  Special  thanks  are  due  Rev. 
Hentz,  who  has  taken  active  interest  in  this  matter. 

A  number  of  sketches  have  already  been  published,  in  Rev.  Wis- 
chan's  Leben  Greenings,  Dr.  Jacobs'  Church  History,  Rev.  Tra- 
bert's  Missions  among  the  Telugus,  Rev.  L.  B.  Wolf's  After 
Fifty  Years,  Rev.  P.  A.  Laury's  Lutheran  Missions;  also  a 
sketch  by  Rev.  J.  A.  Scheffer  in  the  Church  Messenger,  1892, 
and  one  by  Rev.  Dr.  "Wackernagel  in  the  Lutheran  Cyclopedia. 
While  not  ignoring  these  sketches,  the  writer  has  aimed  as  far 
as  possible  to  give  facts  from  the  sources;  If  he  has  gone  too 
far  and  given  more  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  it  was  with 
the  purpose  that  he  might  furnish  materials  from  which  others 
might  draw  thedr  own  conclusions.  In  a  few  instances  he  has 
found  it  necessary  to  assume  an  apologetic  tone,  because  he  be- 
lieved justice  demanded  tit.  In  all  cases  he  has'  endeavored  to 
be  just  and  accurate,,  and  has  only  regretted  that  he  has  not 
been  able  to  clear  up  all  points  to  his  own  satisfaction. 

This  Life  was  originally  offered  to  the  Board  of  Publica- 
tion, by  it  referred  to  the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  and  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  latter  offered  to  the  Review.       W.  A.  L. 


THE  LIFE  OF  FATHER  HEYER. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Johann  Friedrich  Christian  Heyer,  for  such  is  the  full 
liame  of  him  who  is  more  familiarly  known  as  Father  Heyer, 
was  born  in  Helmstedt,*  in  the  duchy  of  Brunswick,  Germany, 
July  10,  1793.  His  parents  were  Johann  Gottlieb  Heyer,  bur- 
gher and  master-furrier  in  Helmstedt,  and  Frederike  Sophie 
Johanne  Wagener  Heyer.  Of  them  little  is  known  beyond  the 
fact  that  they  were  married  in  the  large  St.  Stephen's  Church  in 
Helmstedt  on  May  27,  1788,  had  six  children,  four  sons  and 
two  daughters,  of  whom  Father  Heyer  was  the  third  child  and 
the  second  son.  They  were  "pious  persons,  who  brought  up 
their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord." 

The  eldest  son,  Carl  Heinrich  Anton,  was  born  in  1791, 
and  like  his  father  became  burgher  and  master-furrier  in  Helm- 
stedt. According  to  the  church  records  he  was  married  on 
November  23,  181 5,  and  had  four  children,  for  two  of  whom 
Father  Heyer  is  recorded  as  sponsor.  Carl  seems  to  have 
come  to  Philadelphia  soon  after  1834.  His  son,  Frederick, 
studied  law  in  Philadelphia,  having  graduated  from  the  High 
School  in  1850.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1855,  and  died 
in  1871  or  '72.  Father  Heyer  mentions  only  one  other 
brother,  so  that  it  is  probable  that  one  died  early.  The 
younger  brother,  Heinrich,  was  born  in  1796.  After  having 
been  a  dull  boy,  he  became  a  bright  student,  and  a  Rationalist, 
but  returned  to  orthodoxy,   and  was  for  at  least  forty  years 


*  '  Helmstedt  is  an  ancient  town  of  ungainly  appearance,  yet  it  is  distinguished 
for  the  republican  spirit  and  the  kind  hospitality  of  its  inhabitants  towards  the 
stranger.  .     .       Helmstedt  is  yrtW  known  as  having  been  the  birth  place  of 

Helmuth  and  Storck,  two  fathers  of  our  Lutheran  Zion  in  America." — Lutheran 
Observer,  October  5,  1833. 


Lutheran  pastor  in  Gross-Posserin,  Mecklenburg.  The 
mother  died  September  22,  1815,  the  father  January  11,  1832 
At  present  the  family  no  longer  exists  in  Helmstedt,  and  dis- 
tant relatives  only  remember  that  Father  Heyer  existed,  and 
more  than  thirty  years  ago  visited  his  old  home. 

Of  the  first  fourteen  years  of  the  future  missionary's  life 
we  know  little.  His  birth  occurred  in  troubled  times.  The 
American  Revolution  had  ended,  but  the  French  Revolution 
had  begun.  The  former  had  established  the  principle  of  po- 
litical liberty,  and  had  largely  been  fought  in  the  name  of 
Christianity;  the  latter  aimed  to  establish  religious  license 
upon  the  ruins  of  all  existing  order.  Exactly  four  months 
after  Heyer's  birth  the  Christian  religion  was  decreed  abolished 
in  France  (Nov.  10,  1793).  On  the  day  following  William 
Carey,  the  "consecrated  cobbler,"  landed  at  Calcutta  to  estab- 
lish that  religion  among  the  Heathen.  This  may  suffice  to  in- 
dicate the  confusion,  the  uncertainty  in  which  all  things  were 
involved,  especially  matters  religious.  How  far  the  citizens 
of  Helmstedt  felt  the  movements  about  them,  and  to  what  ex- 
tent they  were  afifected  we  cannot  tell.  The  learned  circles  had 
long  since  been  influenced  by  the  "Aufklarung."  Lessing 
had  published  his  Wolfenbuttel  Fragments  only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  Helmstedt.  But  in  the  University  orthodoxy  was 
still  defended,  especially  by  Joh.  Benedict  Carpzov  (1720 
1803),  and  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  pastors  were 
other  than  orthodox. 

The  childhood  of  Father  Heyer  seems  not  to  have  been 
in  any  way  remarkable.  He  was  bright  and  active,  began  to 
attend  school  at  the  early  age  of  three  years,  and  made  rapid 
progress  in  his  studies.  In  the  winter  of  i8o4-'o5  he  narrowly 
escaped  drowning,  breaking  through  the  ice.  He  calls  his 
companions  dare-devils,  and  we  may  infer  that  the  same  term 
might  have  been  applied  to  him.  A  certain  daring  and  love  of 
adventure  marks  his  entire  career.  The  only  other  incident 
of  his  boyhood  known  to  us  is  that  in  the  spring  of  1807,  when 
Helmstedt  was  occupied  by  the  French,  he,  a  boy  of  less  than 
fourteen  years,  was  called  upon  to  act  as  interpreter  between 
the  soldiers  and  the  citizens.       In  the  summer  of  the  same 


year  occurred  the  first  great  event  of  his  life,  when  at  the  re- 
quest of  his  uncle,  a  furrier  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  sent  to 
America. 

We  are  not  told  what  inducements  the  uncle  in  Philadel- 
phia held  out  to  bring  the  boy  of  fourteen  to  the  New  World, 
nor  what  circumstances  made  the  parents  willing  to  part  from 
him.  It  is  barely  possible  that  the  closing  of  the  University 
in  Helmstedt  may  have  had  some  connection  with  the  matter, 
affecting  no  doubt  the  father's  business.  When,  after  he  had 
been  confirmed,  the  time  arrived  for  him  to  leave  home,  the 
German  harbors  were  blocked.  His  father  took  him  to  the 
Danish  harbor  Friedrichstadt,  and  put  him  in  charge  of  Cap- 
tain Williams,  of  the  American  sailing  vessel  "Pittsburg." 
After  eight  weeks  on  the  ocean  he  landed  at  Philadelphia 
sometime  in  August,  1807.  His  uncle  paid  the  price  of  the 
passage  ($140),  put  the  boy  in  a  select  school,  and  afterwards 
set  him  to  making  hats,  at  which  he  became  so  expert  that  he 
could  finish  eighteen  hats  in  a  week,  twice  as  many  as  the  or- 
dinary workman  could  finish. 

His  uncle  seldom  went  to  church,  and  bothered  little 
whether  the  boy  went  or  not.  But  Heyer  loved  singing,  and 
in  the  old  German  Lutheran  Zion's  Church,  at  the  comer  of 
Fourth  and  Cherry  streets,  there  was  good  singing.  He  at- 
tended frequently,  and  in  1809  was  deeply  touched  by  a  ser- 
mon by  the  pastor.  Dr.  Helmuth.  He  became  a  teacher  in 
the  Sunday  school,  and  a  member  of  the  Mosheim  Society.* 
Perhaps  Dr.  Helmuth  took  a  personal  interest  in  the  young 
man  who  came  from  his  native  city.       But  Heyer  was  par- 


*The  Mosheim  Society  was  founded  July  24,  1804,  by  some  young  Germans 
in  Philadelphia,  partly  for  religious  purposes  and  partly  to  exercise  themselves  in 
the  German  languape.  In  order  to  become  better  acquainted  with  religious  truths 
and  to  make  themselves  more  familiar  with  the  better  modern  German  literature, 
this  society  founded  German  Sunday  schools.  From  year  to  year  the  number  of 
members  increased  so  rapidly,  that  six  years  after  its  establishment  it  was  publicly 
incorporated  by  the  state.  At  its  meetings  each  Saturday  in  the  room  given  for 
this  purpose  by  the  German  Lutheran  congregation,  after  the  roll  call  and  reading 
of  the  minwtes  of  the  hist  meeting,  the  society  examined  the  religious  questions 
proposed  at  its  last  meeting.  Each  member  read  the  Hible  verses  supporting  his 
views,  and  all  were  for  this  purpose  provided  with  Bibles  and  writing  materials. 
Cf.  Brauns'  "  Pracktische  Belehrung,"  page  422f.,  whose  book  is  characterized 
as  an  "  infamous  production"  (Lutheran  Observer,  September  14,  1833),  but  doubt- 
less gives  a  fair  account  of  the  Mosheim  Society. 


8 

ticularly  pleased  with  the  sermons  of  Pastor  J.  Becker.  Soon 
there  grew  in  him  a  longing  to  study  Theology,  and  an  op- 
portimity  was  given  him  to  share  the  instructions  given  to  two 
students  by  Dr.  Helmuth  and  Dr.  F.  D".  Schaeffer ;  for  it  was 
customary  in  those  days  for  some  pastors  to  tutor  students,  as 
there  were  no  Lutheran  theological  seminaries.  In  June, 
1813,  sufficient  progress  had  been  made  to  permit  of  Heyer's 
being  appointed  to  preach  the  afternoon  sermon  in  the  large 
Zion's  Church.  But  we  have  his  own  account,  which  we  can 
follow  through  a  large  portion  of  his  life  adding  such  notes 
as  may  be  of  interest  and  value. 

After  I  had  studied  theology  for  some  time  in  Philadel- 
phia under  the  supervision  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  Helmuth  ard 
Schaefifer,  I  was  directed  in  June,  1813,  to  preach  the.  afternoon 
sermon  in  the  large  Zion's  Church.  A  bold  undertaking  for 
one  who  had  little  experience,  was  weak  in  knowledge,  and 
not  yet  twenty  years  old.  It  would  have  been  proper  for  me 
to  answer  with  Moses:  "Lord,  send  another,  for  I  am  young 
and  inexperienced."  Or  it  would  also  have  been  well  if  some 
one  had  advised  me :  "Tarry  at  Jericho  until  your  beard  be 
grown,  and  then  return."  But  the  sermon  was  announced, 
and  the  congregation  was  not  to  be  disappointed.  I  had 
written  a  sermon  on  Matth.  6:6:  "But  thou  when  thou  prayest 
enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast  shut  the  door,  pray 
to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret ;  and  thy  Father  which  seeth 
in  secret  shall  reward  thee  openly."*  Of  the  possibility  of 
breaking  down  in  my  delivery  I  had  not  thought  or  I  would 
not  have  left  the  written  sermon  at  home,  but  taken  it  along 
to  the  pulpit  for  use  in  case  of  necessity.  But  in  this  case 
also  the  word  was  confirmed:  "The  Lord  is  mighty  in  the 
weak."  The  sermon  made  a  good  impression;  after  more/ 
than  fifty  years  I  to-day  still  thank  God  for  it. 

In  connection  with  my  theological  studies  in  1814,  I  also 
taught  the  parochial  school  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city, 
which  had  been  founded  by  Pastor  Van  Hoff  some  years  be- 

*Some  in  the  audience  remarked :    "  The  young  preacher  looked  like  one 
who  had  just  prayed  to  his  Father  in  secret." 


fore.*  Frequently  the  young  schoolmaster  also  had  to  preach 
for  the  church  members  in  that  part  of  the  city  on  Sunday 
evenings;  and  thus  with  studying,  teaching  and  preaching  I 
was  very  busy.  In  the  daily  conversation  with  the  children  in 
the  school  I  learned  many  things  that  were  of  great  use  to  me 
in  my  later  pastoral  work.  It  would  be  well  if  all  young 
preachers  had  an  opportunity  to  teach  school  some  time  before 
they  take  charge  of  congregations. 


CHAPTER  II. 

On  December  24,  1814,  a  treaty  of  peace  between  England 
and  the  United  States  was  signed  in  London ;  and  toward  the 
end  of  January,  1815,"  the  glad  news  was  announced  in  Phila- 
delphia. New  life  and  activity  in  equipping  vessels  for  com- 
merce with  foreign  nations  were  displayed.  The  desire  to  see 
my  parents  once  more  began  to  grow  within  me,  and  in  March 
I  was  already  on  the  voyage  to  Hamburg  on  the  ship  Wash- 
ington, Captain  Ward.  It  was  also  my  intention  to  continue 
my  studies  at  the  University  of  Halle.  Dr.  Helmuth  had 
given  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Dr.  Knapp  who  had 
studied  with  him  at  Halle  fifty  years  before,  and  whom  he  had 
for  a  time  tutored  privately  in  Hebrew.  The  wind  from  the 
West  being  strong  our  voyage  away  from  the  States  was 
rapid.  In  three  weeks  we  had  almost  crossed  the  Atlantic, 
when,  on  a  Sunday  morning  at  daybreak,  we  were  awakened 
and  frightened  by  a  cannon  shot.  In  a  few  minutes  all  the  men 
were  on  deck,  and,  behold,  we  were  near  a  man-of-war,  which 
signaled  to  us  to  take  in  sail  and  wait.  The  captain  knew  as 
little  as  the  rest  of  us  what  this  meant.  Some  even  thought  it 
might  be  a  pirate  from  Algiers  or  Tunis,  who  had  ventured 
beyond  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  to  carry  on  his  piracy  witii 
greater  success.  But  we  did  not  long  remain  in  uncertainty. 
An  officer  of  the  man-of-war  came  on  board,  and  brought  the 


*The  school  was  founded  in  Southwark,  Philadel|jhia,  at  the  direction  of  the 
congregation  in  lSo6.     Heyer  succeeded  Mr.  Walz  on  September  15,  1813. 


Id 

startling  news  that  Napoleon  had  escaped  from  the  Island  of 
Elba,  and  for  this  reason  vessels  were  stopped  in  order,  if  pos- 
sible, to  recapture  this  disturber  of  the  peace.  But  he  was  not 
to  be  found  among  us ;  in  less  than  half  an  hour  our  ship  sailed 
on.  But  after  two  or  three  days  we  were  again  stopped,  and 
now  we  were  told  the  almost  increditable  news  that  Napoleon 
had  driven  the  King  of  France  from  Paris,  and  was  on  the 
borders  of  France  with  a  large  army,  preparing  to  defend  him- 
self against  the  attacks  of  the  Austrians  and  Prussians.  When 
we  arrived  at  Hamburg  .we  found  everything  in  great  agita- 
tion ;  all  Europe  was  full  of  war  and  rumors  of  war.  These 
occurrences  made  a  deeper  impression  upon  me  than  many 
others  for  the  following  reasons  :  during  the  voyage  I  had  read 
Stilling's*  "Siegesgeschichte,"  or  exposition  of  the. Revelation 
of  St.  John.  According  to  Stilling's  reckoning  Antichrist  was 
to  appear  in  1816.  The  verse  Rev..  9:11,  according  to  my  view, 
was  now  being  fulfilled :  "And  they  had  a  king  over  them, 
which  is  the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit,  whose  name  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue  is  Abaddon,  but  in  the  Greek  tongue  hath  his 
name  Apollyon."  In  my  heated  imagination  I  added :  in  Italian 
it  may  be  Napoleon.  That  there  would  now  be  disturbed  and 
frightful  times  in  Europe — of  this  I  had  not  the  slightest 
doubt.  The  fear  that  in  the  interior  of  the  country  I  would 
be  compelled  to  fight  in  the  war  induced  me  to  resolve  to  re- 
turn to  Philadelphia  at  the  first  opportunity.  In  a  letter 
written  on  board  the  ship  Washington,  I  told  my  parents  that 
I  had  arrived  in  Plamburg  well  and  safe ;  at  the  same  time  I 
requested  that  some  one  of  my  relatives  come  to  visit  me  be- 
fore ]  started  on  my  return  voyage. 

During  the  time  of  the  war  with  England  my  correspond- 
ence with  friends  in  Germany  had  to  cease;  my  parents  had 
received  no  news  from  me  for  three  years.  So  much  greater 
was  their  joy  when  my  letters  from  Hamburg  arrived.      The 


*Johann  Heinricb  Jung,  a  very  popular  writer  at  that  time,  whose  life  was 
translated  and  published  by  E.  L  Hazelius  in  1831.  The  reckoning  giving  1816 
as  the  date  of  the  end  of  the  world  or  the  appearance  of  anli  Christ,  is  based  upon 
Bengel's  chronology.  An  American  edition  was  published  at  Reading  in  1814. 
J.  G.  Schmucker's  Revelation  (1817  and  1821)  is  based  upon  Stilling  to  some  ex- 
eat, bat  us'is  a  diiftjrent  cUronology. 


II 

date  read:  "Ship  Washington,  May,  1815."  This  my  dear 
folks  could  not  understand  at  first;  they  thought  that  I  had 
moved  to  Washington  from  Philadelphia.  But  when  they 
read  further,  and  found  that  I  had  safely  made  my  second 
voyage  and  had  arrived  in  Hamburg  in  good  health,  they 
could  not  refrain  from  tears  of  joyful  surprise.  Now  they 
also  said :  "It  is  enough ;  our  son  is  yet  alive :  he  must  come 
that  we  may  see  him  before  we  die."  It  was  immediately  de- 
cided that  my  oldest  brother,  Carl,  should  go  to  Hamburg  and 
bring  me  home.  The  next  day  he  was  already  seated  in  the 
coach ;  on  the  third  day  after  that  some  one  knocked  at  the 
door  of  my  room  and  told  me  that  a  strange  gentleman  was 
below,  and  wished  to  see  me.  It  was  my  brother  whom  I  had 
seen  in  a  dream  the  night  before.  After  a  separation  of  eight 
years  we  had  the  joy  of  seeing  each  other  again.  Aly  worry 
concerning  the  military  service  was  removed  by  my  brother's 
promise  to  be  my  substitute  in  case  the  government  insisted 
that  1  must  serve.  After  I  had  attended  to  my  passport  we 
rode  away  at  the  first  opportunity  through  Liineburg  and 
Braunschweig  to  Helmstedt,  happy  and  contented.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  arrived  at  the  paternal  home,  and 
found  everything  in  excitement.  This  was  caused  by  the  fact 
th.tt  the  day  before  a  regiment  of  Prussian  troops  had  been 
quartered  with  the  citizens,  and  was  now  to  be  ready  for  the 
march  before  sunrise.  In  the  same  room  where  I  had  taken 
leave  eight  years  before,  now  occurred  the  joyful  meeting  with 
my  parents.  When  the  first  greetings  were  over,  the  door  of 
the  room  again  opened,  and  a  youth  of  nineteen  hurried  to- 
ward me  and  embraced  me  affectionately.  But  I  did  not 
know  him,  and  when  I  asked  :  Who  is  this?  they  said  :  Do  you 
not  know  your  brother  Heinrich?  When  I  had  seen  him  last 
he  was  only  eleven  years  old;  but  now  he  had  already  studied 
at  Gottingen  for  almost  two  years.  When  we  were  children, 
studying  went  hard  with  him,  so  that  our  dear  mother  said  at 
times:  "What  will  ever  become  of  my  dull  Heinrich?"  I  an- 
swered :  "One  of  us  three  must  remain  the  most  ignorant, 
and  it  may  be  Heinrich  just  as  well  as  Carl  or  Fritz."  From 
his  twelfth  year  Heinrich  made  rapid  progress  in  learning,  so 


t2 

that  my  parents  considered  it  advisable  to  let  him  study;  and 
now  the  most  ignorant  had  become  the  most  learned. 

Some  days  after  my  arrival  in  Helmstedt  I  was  requested 
to  preach  for  Dr.  Bollmann  in  the  large  St.  Stephen's  Church. 
This  church  was  built  long  before  the  Reformation,  and  is 
about  200  feet  long  and  proportionately  wide.  Here  I  was 
baptised  in  1793,  and  here  I  was  confirmed  in  1807, — and  now 
I  was  to  stand  in  the  pulpit  where  Calixt,  Mosheim,  Carpzov 
and  other  Lutheran  Church  Fathers  had  preached  the  gospel. 
The  desire  of  the  people  to  hear  the  young  preacher  just  ar- 
rived from  America  was  so  great  that  almost  2000  persons  at- 
tended the  service.  In  that  rationalistic  period  this  was  some- 
thing unusual,  and  for  many  years  the  church  had  not  been  so 
full. 

My  intentiOTi  to  srady  m  nalle  I  could  not  fulfill,  because 
all  of  the  students  had  marched  against  the  Fatherland's  enemy 
as  a  regiment  of  volunteers  under  the  command  of  Bliicher, 
and  the  lectures  of  the  professors  had  therefore  to  cease.  Under 
these  circumstances  I  could  readily  decide  to  accompany  my 
brother  to  Gottingen.  The  journey  was  made  on  foot.  This 
was  the  custom  of  the  students,  because  it  was  good  for  the 
health,,  and  because  wagons  were  not  easily  met  with  on  the 
side  streets.  The  number  of  students  at  Gottingen  was  given 
as  I  TOO.  In  a  printed  catalogue  the  names  of  72  professors 
were  given ;  also  the  subjects  on  which  each  professor  intended 
to  lecture.  After  I  was  matriculated  by  Consistorialrath 
Plank,  I  reported  to  the  professors  whose  lectures  I  intended 
to  attend.  Exegesis  on  the  Gospels  according  to  Matthew, 
Mark  and  Luke  I  heard  under  Pott;  on  St.  John  under  Plank, 
Jr. ;  history  of  doctrines  under  Plank,  Sr. ;  ethics  under  Staud- 
lin ;  catechetics  under  Trefurt,  etc. 

The  students  are  under  little  or  no  supervision.  Almost 
like  tlie  young  mechanics,  who,  after  they  have  passed  through 
their  apprenticeships,  are  free  as  journeymen  to  choose  where 
and  for  whom  they  will  work,  the  young  scholars,  after  they 
have  passed  through  the  preparatory  schools  decide  for  them- 
selves what  professors  and  how  many  lectures  they  will  hear. 
The  diligent  students  have  the  best  opportunity  to  gather  for 


13 

themselves  treasures  of  wisdom.  But  among  the  great  num- 
ber of  students  there  are  many  dissolute  fellows  who  squander 
time  and  money  and  leave  the  university  almost  as  ignorant 
a?  when  they  arrived.  Germany  has  comparatively  more  in- 
stitutions of  learning  than  other  countries ;  every  German 
kingdom  or  principality  has  high  schools  and  one  or  more 
universities.  In  order  to  keep  these  institutions  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition,  each  government  makes  it  its  business  to  find 
and  appoint  the  ablest  and  best  qualified  men  as  pr(^fessors. 
Hence  it  is  that,  as  may  be  said,  the  learned. in  Germany  find  a 
better  market  than  in  other  countries,  and  that  the  Germans 
excel  other  nations  in  learning. 

On  June  i8,  1815,  the  report  reached  Gottingen  that 
pjliicher  had  been  defeated  in  the  battle  at  Ligny ;  this  gave 
rise  to  much  anxiety  among  the  inhabitants.  On  the  same 
day  preparations  were  made  to  organize  the  students  as  a  regi- 
ment of  volunteers,  and  to  send  them  to  the  front  under  Wel- 
lington as  soon  as  possible.  Under  these  circumstances  I 
could  not  have  escaped  ;  for  here  no  substitutes  were  taken,  and 
T  would  have  had  to  march  involuntarily  with  the  volunteers. 
But  fortunately  the  report  of  victory  flew  through  the  entire 
country  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind :  "Wellington  and 
Bliicher  have  -defeated  Napoleon  at  Waterloo.  The  ex-Em- 
peror has  fled  and  his  army  is  retreating  toward  Paris  in  great 
disorder."  If  the  dejection  two  days  before  was  great,  the 
rejoicing  now  rose  so  much  higher  in  consequence.  In  the 
evening  a  torch  parade  was  arranged,  and  there  was  jubilation 
in  one  of  the  pleasure  gardens  near  Gottingen  until  late  at 
night.  The  park  was  somewhat  lit  up  by  pitch  torches,  but 
also  filled  with  an  almost  unbearable  smoke.  The  young 
heroes  (students)  sang  and  screamed  and  drank  and  hit  upon 
the  tables  and  bench(^s  with  their  rapiers  and  swords,  as  if  they 
wanted  to  hew  into  a  thousand  pieces  the  tyrant,  who,  for  1 
time,  had  ruled  Europe  with  a  rod  of  iron.  To  me,  as  I 
looked  on  from  some  distance,  the  whole  seemed  like  a  scene 
from  the  underworld  such  as  I  do  not  desire  to  see  again. 

When  I  left  Philadelphia  some  friends  remarked :  "We 
fear  that  your  faith  will  suffer  shipwreck  among  the  learned 


14 

neologues  (Rationalists)  in  Germany,  and  then  you  will  no 
longer  be  able  to  be  of  service  to  our  church  in  America."  To 
this  I  answered :  "If  my  faith  suffers  shipwreck,  my  preaching 
must  also  suffer  shipwreck ;  for  if  the  Bible  does  not  reveal  to 
us  the  will  of  God  concerning  our  salvation,  the  ministry  also 
has  no  meaning."  In  Gottingen  I  now  had  to  stand  the  test, 
and,  thanks  to  God,  I  came  through  unharmed.  In  the  ex- 
egetical  studies  especially  Rationalism  tried  its  skill  in  ex- 
plaining away  miracles.  But  in  most  cases  this  was  done  in 
such  a  wonderful  and  daring  manner  that  it  produced  the  oppo- 
site effect  on  me ;  instead  of  being  led  astray  I  was  much  more 
confirmed  in  my  faith.  My  brother  with  whom  I  roomed  was 
a  Rationalist,  but  no  scoffer.  He  even  granted  that  a  preacher 
with  a  supra-naturalistic  views  could  fulfill  his  office  with  more 
cheerful  confidence  than  the  neologues.  "But,"  said  he,  "I  do 
not  have  your  convictions  and  I  cannot  and  will  not  be  a  hypo- 
crite." Through  my  brother  I  became  acquainted  with  Pastor 
Thilo,  who  was  stationed  as  a  country  preacher  not  far  from 
Gottingen,  and  was  one  of  the  few  who  still  preached  repentance 
and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Here  I  experienced  that 
the  grace  of  God  produces  closer  communion  of  souls  than 
natural  family  relationship.  There  was  a  soul-sympathy  be- 
tween Thilo  and  myself  such  as  did  not  at  that  time  exist  be- 
tween myself  and  my  brother.  But  some  years  later  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  reading  in  a  letter  from  this  brother  the  confession : 
'T  have  now  begun  that  reading  of  the  Bible  in  which  one 
throws  the  voluminous  commentaries  into  a  comer,  and  turns 
to  the  fountain  of  light."  And  the  Lord  heard  his  prayer; 
he  was  rescued  from  the  power  of  darkness.  For  at  least 
forty  years  he  has  been  stationed  as  Orthodox  Lutheran 
preacher  in  Gross-Poserin,  Grossherzogthum  Mecklenburg. 

During  the  fall  of  1815  we  went  to  Helmstedt  to  spend 
several  weeks  with  our  nearest  relatives.  In  those  days  our 
good  pious  mother  ended  her  pilgrimage,  being  57  years  of 
age.  A  short  time  before  her  parting,  she  said:  "The  dear 
Lord  has  heard  my  prayer ;  after  long  separation  we  have  en- 
joyed the  pleasure  of  seeing  each  other  again,  and  now  the 


15 

Lord  lets  me  depart  in  peace."  The  spirit  of  a  pious  mother 
rests  rich  in  blessing  upon  children  and  children's  children. 

My  second  journey  to  Gottingen  I  had  to  make  alone, 
for  my  brother  had  finished  his  studies.  During  the  winter 
I  had  a  room-mate  from  Braunschweig,  a  son  of  Pastor  Wit- 
ting, who  spoke  English  fluently;  in  our  conversations  we 
generally  used  the  English  language.  In  accordance  with 
the  old  German  proverb,  "Morgenstund  ha<:  Gold  im  Mund," 
it  was  customary  among  the  students  at  Gottingen  to  begin 
early  and  to  study  diligently  in  the  forenoon.  An  hour  be- 
fore daybreak  the  room  was  v/armed  and  the  lamps  were  lit. 
In  this  way  most  of  the  streets  were  lit  up,  and  it  was  light 
enough  so  that  one  could  readily  find  his  way  without  a  lan- 
tern— a  convenience  for  those  who  attended  lectures  from  6 
to  7.  Still  it  is  also  probable  that  for  many  of  the  young  men 
the  lights  were  lit  in  vain.  Instead  of  getting  up,  the  Proverb 
6:  10  may  have  been  appropriate :  "Yes,  sleep  a  little  longer, 
slumber  yet  a  little ;  fold  the  hands  a  little  that  you  may  sleep." 
(German  Version.) 

During  the  spring  vacation  of  1816  my  oldest  brother 
accompanied  me  to  the  Leipzig  fair.  Our  way  took  us 
through  Halle,  and  I  made  use  of  this  opportunity  to  pay  my 
respects  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Knapp.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to 
the  aged  scholar  to  hear  from  the  friend  of  his  youth.  Dr. 
lielmuth,  in  America.  We  also  viewed  the  buildings  of  the 
Francke  Institution ;  but  as  my  traveling  companions  were  in 
a  hurry  I  had  not  time  to  satisfy  my  curiosity.  In  Leipzig  we 
tarried  several  days.  Among  other  things  I  visited  the  bat- 
tlefield of  October  16  and  18,  1813,  where  the  allied  armies 
won  that  brilliant  and  ever-memorable  victory  at  Leipzig, 
and  so  severely  defeated  Napoleon  th.at  he  began  his  retreat 
in  such  haste  that  the  street  from  Leipzig  to  Mayence  was 
covered  with  corpses  of  pack-animals  and  men,  forsaken  wa- 
gons and  cannon,  and  he  did  not  stop  until  the  Rhine  separa- 
ted him  from  his  enemies.  In  the  same  place  where  Napoleon 
was  defeated  in  1813,  Gustav  Adolph  gained  a  victory  over 
the  imperial  army  under  Gen.  Tilly,  September  7,  1631 ;  and 
eleven  years  later,  October  23,  1642,  Forstenson  defeated  the 


i6 

Austrians  at  Breitenfeld,  an  hour  from  Leipzig.  Over  the 
main  entrance  to  a  large  stone  church  a  cannon  ball  was 
built  into  the  wall,  with  the  inscription:  "During  the  great 
battle  on  the  i6th  and  i8th  of  October,  1813,  the  Lord  pre- 
served this  house."  The  damaged  houses  in  the  city  still 
showed  in  which  streets  the  fighting  had  b.e.en  fiercest  during 
the  retreat.  On  the  bank  of  the  Elster  where  the  Polish 
Prince  Poniatowsky  lost  his  life,  a  monument  has  been 
erected. 

At  the  Leipzig  fair  I  for  the  first  time  saw  merchants  in 
Oriental  dress ;  but  it  did  not  enter  my  thoughts  that  I  would 
sometime  live  for  years  where  this  is  the  most  comfortable 
and  the  generally  prevailing  dress. 

In  the  late  summer  of  1816  I  again  took  leave  of  father 
and  brothers  to  start  on  my  second  voyage  to  America.  In 
leaving  the  university  no  examination  is  held.  The  profes- 
sors when  requested  give  the  students  written  certificates, 
stating  that  they  attended  their  lectures.  But  most  students 
go  away  without  asking  for  such  certificates,  because,  before 
the  regents  where  they  must  afterwards  undergo  a  rigid  ex- 
amination, their  receiving  situations  depends  not  on  their 
certificates,  but  on  their  knowledge. 


CHAPTER  III. 

In  1817  the  Lutheran  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania  and 
adjacent  states  met  at  York.  With  three  other  applicants  I  ap- 
plied for  admission  into  this  reverend  Synod.  The  examining 
coniniittcc  consisted  of  Pastors  C.  Jaeger,  of  Lehigh  county. 
Moeller  of  Chambersburg,  and  Ernst  of  Lebanon.  The  ex- 
aminers dealt  very  kindly  with  the  young  candidates. 

The  leading  or  most  influential  members  of  the  Synod  at 
that  time  were:  Ch.  Endress,  G.  Lochmann,  J.  G.  Schmucker, 
H.  Muhlenberg,  C.  Jaeger,  etc.  The  fathers  of  the  earlier 
time  were  either  already  entered  upon  the  joy  of  the  Lord,  or 
could  no  longer  attend  because  of  the  weakness  of  age.  The 
preachers  just  mentioned  were  all  educated  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  had  mostly  studied  theology  under  the  guidance  and  su- 
pervision of  Dr.  J.  H.  Helmuth.  Endress  was  thorough  in 
his  sermons,  Lochmann  had  popular  gifts  as  a  preacher, 
Schmucker  preached  from  the  heart  and  edifyingly.  A  synod- 
ical  sermon  on  2  Cor.  5:14:  "For  the  love  of  Christ  constrain- 
cth  us,"  made  a  deep  impression.  The  divisions  were:  I.  Into 
the  ministry,  II.  Constraineth  us  to  remain  in  the  ministry, 
III.  To  show  faithfulness  and  diligence  in  the  ministry. 
Among  the  preachers,  however,  according  to  my  view,  H. 
Muhlenberg  was  the  best  pulpit  orator,  earnest  and  impressive, 
A  sermon  on  Gen.  19:  17-22:  "  Haste  thee  and  save  thy  soul," 
will  remain  in  my  memory  forever. 

At  the  Synod  in  York  I  also  became  acquainted  with  the 
Rev.  Father  Stauch.*  He  was  one  of  the  first  Lutheran 
preachers  in  Ohio,  and  worked  hard  in  the  new  settlements  of 
that  state,  but  also  accomplished  much  good.  Father  Stauch 
had  a  priestly  appearance  ;  I  thought  of  the  words,  John  i :  41 : 
"Behold  an  Isarelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  is  no  guile."  In 
spite  of  his  age  he  had  made  the  journey  from  Lisbon,  Ohio, 


•An   autobiography   of  this  earnest    worker,  brief   but  full  of  interest, 
is  among  the  MSS.  of  the  Historical  Library  at  Gettysburg. 


i8 

to  York  on  horseback;  hut  it  was  the  last  time  that  he  crossed 
the  Alleghanies  to  visit  friends  in  the  East  and  attend  the 
Synod  of  Pennsylvania.  He  rests  from  his  labors  a  lon,s:  time 
now,  as  also  do  the  other  preachers  mentioned  above.  He 
was  faithful  in  little,  and,  I  doubt  not,  he  has  been  set  over 
much. 

About  this  time  a  transition  period  had  begun  in  the  Synod 
as  also  in  the  cono-re^ations.  Many  of  the  fathers  of  the 
earlier  times  had  made  efforts  to  hinder  the  use  of  the  Eng'lish 
lansfuafre  in  worship.  Their  opinion  was  that  the  introduction 
of  the  Enoflish  lansjuaisre  would  adulterate  the  purity  of  the 
Lutheran  doctrine.  When  we  think  how  our  Church  has 
fared  since  then,  it  almost  seems  that  his  opinion  was  not  al- 
to.sfether  without  foundation.  Yet,  thanks  to  God,  the  dang-cr 
is  now  past,  we  hope,  and  we  now  see  that  pure  Lutheranism  is 
not  bound  to  any  one  lano:uao:e.  In  this  direction  we  owe 
much  to  our  English  Church  paper  (The  Lutheran). 

Gottes  Wort  und  Luther's  Lehr 
Vergehet  nun  und  nimmcr  mehr. 

In  1817  or  soon  thereafter  English  preaching  was  already 
held  in  several  Lutheran  congregations  in  Pennsylvania,  as  e. 
g.  in  Lancaster,  Harrisburg,  Easton,  Carlisle,  York,  etc.  In 
the  Synod  itself  the  two  languages  were  finally  set  upon  an 
equal  footing. 

At  the  time  of  my  reception  into  the  Ministerium  the  Lu- 
theran preachers  in  the  United  States  numbered  about  120; 
now  (1866)  they  number  at  least  1500 — a  large  increase  in  less 
than  fifty  years.  As  the  introduction  of  English  had  been  op- 
posed in  many  congregations,  so  efforts  were  now  made  to  pre- 
vent the  formation  of  new  Synods,  because  it  was  thought  that 
one  large  Synod  was  better  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
Church  than  many  small  Synods.  Concentration  is  by  all 
means  desirable ;  but  it  finally  became  evident  that  the  poor 
preachers  who  lived  at  a  great  distance  could  not  be  expected 
to  travel  several  hundred  miles  each  year  to  attend  the  synod- 
ical  meetings.  As  early  as  18 14  the  preachers  in  Ohio  and 
some  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania  formed  a  Conference 


19 

District,  and 'in  1817  a  Synod  was  organized  in  that  district. 
Not  long  after  the  Maryland,  West  Pennsylvania  and  other 
Synods  were  formed,  and  so  it  went  on  until  we  number  more 
than  forty  Lutheran  Synods  in  the  United  States.  Thus  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other ;  formerly  the  number  of  Synods  was 
too  small,  now  we  have  more  than  necessary. 

In  reference  to  the  education  of  young  men  for  the  minis- 
try a  change  was  also  efifccted  in  our  Church  about  this  time. 
Formerly  several  of  the  older  and  more  gifted  preachers  in- 
structed one  or  more  young  men,  and  educated  them  for  the 
ministry  as  well  as  circumstances  permitted.*  But  now  the 
establishment  of  Theological  Seminaries  was  begun.  Hartwig 
Seminary  in  New  York  was  the  first  Lutheran  school  of  the 
prophets  in  this  country;  in  Gettysburg,  Springfield,  etc.,  sim- 
ilar institutions  were  founded,  until  it  is  with  the  seminaries  as 
with  the  Synods — we  have  almost  too  many. 

At  York  I  was  appointed  traveling  preacher  to  visit  the 
northwestern  districts  of  Pennsylvania,  and  especially  to  preach 
in  Crawford  and  Erie  counties.  The  appointment  was  for 
three  months,  the  salary  was  fixed  at  $100;  what  the  preacher 
could  not  collect  was  paid  from  the  Synodical  treasury.  Our 
missionary  work  to-day  is  not  what  it  should  be ;  but  at  that 
time  it  was  even  more  imperfect.  After  I  had  already  started 
on  my  journey  I  was  told  by  one  of  our  preachers  that  Mr. 
Heine  had  resigned  in  Lehigh  county,  and  no  one  had  yet  ap- 
plied to  be  his  successor;  at  the  same  time  he  advised  me  to 
try  to  get  the  place.  I  visited  Mr.  Heine,  and  was  kindly  re- 
ceived by  him.  He  did  what  he  could  to  bring  the  people  to 
favor  me.  In  the  course  of  the  week  Bro.  Trumbauer  also 
came  to  Lehigh  county  to  take  charge  of  the  vacant  congre- 
gations. We  preached  our  trial  sermons,  and  the  Church 
councils  met  to  decide  which  of  us  should  receive  the  place. 
But  they  could  not  agree ;  two  of  the  congregations  wanted  to 
have  Bro.  Trumbauer,  and  two  voted  for  me.  Under  these 
circumstances  we  both  went  away,  Bro.  Trumbauer  to  Lan- 


*How  much  depended  upon  circumstances  Is  shown  by  the  MSS.  diary 
of  a  etudent  whoee  teacher  was  almost  daily  hindered  from  teaching  by  pas- 
toral duties. 


20 

caster  county,  and  I  to  Meadville  and  Erie.  But,  alas!  in  the 
wealthy  congregations  there  was  strife  and  dissension  for  years. 
In  the  Lehigh  congregation  (Macungie)  the  following  rea- 
sons were  given,  why  the  people  were  opposed  to  me :  They 
had  learned  that  I  had  recently  arrived  from  Germany ;  but 
they  wanted  no  German  preacher.  Secondly,  instead  of  an- 
nouncing my  text  immediately  after  the  pulpit  prayer,  I  had 
a  brief  exordium,  and  read  the  text  after  that.  To  this  the 
people  were  not  accustomed ;  they  thought  the  young  preacher 
had  forgotten  his  text  until  he  was  almost  in  the  middle  of  his 
sermon.  Finally,  as  the  Gottingen  students  in  accordance 
with  ancient  Germanic  custom  wore  their  hair  long  and  parted 
in  the  middle,  I  had  also  retained  this  fashion.  At  this  the 
people  took  offence.  What  trifling  circumstances  can  give 
our  lives  a  different  course!  Since  that  time  I  have  always 
advised  vacant  congregations  to  invite  only  one  preacher,  and 
then  to  decide  whether  they  wish  him  or  not. 

From  the  Lehigh  congregation  I  continued  my  journey, 
and  went  through  Orwigsburg  toward  Sunbury.  The  region 
where  the  large  town  of  Pottsville  now  is,  was  at  that  time  a 
wilderness,  the  home  of  snakes  and  vermin ;  but  through  hu- 
man industry  this  wilderness  has  become  a  park.  In  Sunbury 
I  was  very  hospitably  entertained  by  Pastor  Schindel.  After 
I  had  rested  for  a  day.  Pastor  Schindel  accompanied  me  the 
next  morning  to  the  river  where  the  ferry  was,  paid  my  fare, 
and  wished  me  success  and  blessing  on  my  first  missionar)' 
journey.  In  the  evening  I  stopped  with  Father  Ilgen,  who 
lived  in  Center  county.  Farther  toward  the  Northwest  no  Lu- 
theran preacher  lived  at  that  time ;  I  therefore  now  found  my- 
self on  the  borders  of  Lutheranism  in  this  direction.  Father 
Ilgen  appeared  to  me  like  Nathanael,  without  guile.  Before 
we  went  to  bed,  evening-service  was  held,  and  I  was  requested 
to  offer  the  evening  prayer.  When  Pastor  Ilgen  moved  into 
this  district  no  doctor  was  to  be  found  near  or  far ;  for  this  rea- 
son he  had  medicines  sent  him  from  Plallc,  prepared  in  the 
Francke  Institutions.  In  case  of  sickness,  the  neighbors  call- 
ed upon  the  pastor,  so  that  by  and  by  he  had  much  to  do  as 
doctor.     But  during  the  War  of  1812-15  he  could  not  order 


21 

medicines  from  Halle,  and  his  doctoring  ended.  About  this 
time  occurred  the  following  incident  which  Pastor  Ilgen  himself 
related  to  me  :  One  Sunday  morning  after  he  had  preached  in  a 
filial  congregation  he  visited  a  sick  lady,  who  was  very  glad  to 
see  her  pastor.  "Oh,"  she  said,  "if  I  get  medicine  from  you,  I 
will  surely  get  well."  Mr.  Ilgen  told  the  lady  that  his  medi- 
cines were  all  used,  etc.  But  the  woman  was  not  satisfied ;  she 
insisted  that  he  hunt,  perhaps  something  might  be  left  after 
all.  During  this  conversation  Father  Ilgen  stood  by  the  bed- 
side, with  one  hand  in  his  coat  pocket,  and  he  found  some  bread 
crumbs  ;  he  thought :  it  can  do  her  no  harm,  pressed  the  crumb.s 
and  rolled  them  with  his  fingers  and  gave  them  to  the  woman 
as  pills.  She  soon  after  grew  well  again,  and  her  recovery 
was  ascribed  to  the  pills,  which  consisted  of  flour  and  water.  > 

After  I  left  Pastor  Ilgen  it  was  not  long  before  I  entered 
the  primeval  forests  of  Pennsylvania.  One  day  I  had  to  rid^ 
thirty  miles  before  I  came  to  a  house ;  this  was  on  a  new  road 
then  recently  laid  out  by  the  state,  and  only  lately  opened  m 
Clearfield  county.  In  the  evening  I  reached  a  hut  built  ol 
round  logs,  where  three  bachelor  brothers  had  put  up  their 
home  removed  from  the  world.  But  it  soon  appeared  that 
singing  and  praying  was  not  their  main  occupation.  Like 
Ninirod,  they  were  mighty  hunters  before  the  Lord.  All 
travellers  passing  that  way  had  to  stay  with  these  hunters  or 
sjiend  the  night  under  the  open  sky  in  the  pine  forest.  When 
1  arrived,  late  in  the  evening,  five  travellers  had  already  arrived, 
eaten  their  supper,  and  left  not  even  a  piece  of  bread.  Of  ven- 
ison there  was  no  lack,  and  there  was  also  a  little  flour  in  the 
barrel.  Several  handfuls  of  this  were  made  into  a  dough  and 
laid  on  the  coals,  so  that  the  outside  was  burnt,  but  the  dough 
remained  unbaked  inside;  these  men's  old  potatoes  were  eaten 
up  long  ago,  and  the  new  crop  had  not  yet  grown.  I  had  thus 
to  still  my  hunger  as  best  I  could  with  venison ;  but  it  did  mc 
no  harm,  I  slept  well  on  it,  and  in  the  morning  was  ready  to 
continue  my  journey.  Among  those  spending  the  night  there, 
one  who  was  lying  beside  me  on  the  straw  bed  had  killed  a 
man  some  days  before,  and  sought  to  hide  himself  in  this  lone- 
ly region.     His  name  was  Monk,  and  about  three  months  later 


22 

he  was  hanged  at  Bellefonte.     (This  I  heard  on  my  return  trip 
in  1818.) 

One  evening  on  my  way  through  Venango  county  I  had 
to  stop  with  EngHsh  people  who  observed  the  Christian  cus- 
tom of  reading,  singing,  and  praying  together.  They  were 
glad  to  see  a  preacher  in  their  midst,  and  asked  me  to  conduct 
the  family  worship.  Read  and  speak  English  I  could  well 
enough,  but  I  had  never  yet  learned  to  pray  in  this  language, 
and  did  not  know  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  the 
ordinary  language  of  the  people  and  the  language  of  worship. 
The  Lord's  Prayer  I  knew  by  heart,  else  I  would  have  broken 
down  completely.  I  had  almost  the  same  experience  as  the 
well-known  preacher  John  Newton,  who  broke  down  in  his 
first  sermon,  and  the  second  time  when  he  attempted  to  read 
his  sermon  fared  not  much  better;  for  he  was  very  near-sighted. 
For  a  long  time  he  would  not  venture  to  mount  the  pulpit 
again.  I  was  very  much  discouraged  and  thought  to  myself : 
this  first  unsuccessful  attempt  to  pray  in  English  shall  also  be 
my  last.  But  man  proposes  and  God  disposes;  some  months 
later  I  had  to  attempt  even  to  preach  English. 

At  the  time  when  I  was  on  my  first  missionary  journey 
(1817),  there  was  no  longer  any  danger  to  fear  from  hostile 
Indians  in  Pennsylvania.  This  I  well  knew.  Still  I  was  not 
quite  comfortable  when  I  altogether  unexpectedly  met  a  num- 
ber of  these  inhabitants  of  the  forest  near  the  Alleghany  river. 
The  sun  was  setting  when  I  reached  the  eastern  side  of  the  river  ; 
lor  a  distance  of  twenty  miles  I  had  not  met  a  house  during 
the  afternoon.  On  the  opposite  bank  stood  a  hut,  in  which 
lived  the  ferryman.  I  called  as  loudly  as  I  could,  but  received 
no  answer.  At  some  distance  up  stream  I  heard  people  in  the 
bushes,  but  of  them  also  none  paid  any  attention  to  my  cries, 
and  it  almost  seemed  that  rider  and  horse  must  camp  uncared- 
for  under  the  open  sky.  Finally  in  the  dusk  of  evening  I  saw 
a  boat  moving,  which  to  my  astonishment  was  rowed  by  two 
Indians.  They  did  not  rightly  know  how  to  handle  the  shal- 
low ferry,  and  as  we  could  make  ourselves  understood  to  each 
other  only  by  signs,  it  took  longer  than  usual  to  get  the  horse 
safely  on  board.  When  we  were  on  the  point  of  pushing  off  from 


23 

land  a  white  man  arrived  in  a  boat,  sprang  into  the  ferry,  and 
with  dreadful  curses  drove  the  Indians  away.  A  part  of  the 
tribe  known  as  the  Corn-planters  had  been  in  the  neighbor- 
hood for  several  weeks  hunting  and  tishing.  For  various  rea- 
sons this  did  not  seem  right  to  the  old  Irishman,  and  he 
thought  they  now  also  wanted  to  deprive  him  of  the  ferry  mo- 
nev :  this  was  why  he  was  so  angry.  The  next  morning  I  was 
glad  to  leave  the  old  curser  and  toper  as  well  as  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Indians.  On  this  day  I  reached  Crawford  county, 
where  near  the  road  I  saw  one  of  those  old  block-houses  which 
served  the  earlv  settlers  as  places  of  refuge  or  forts  during  hos- 
tile attacks  by  the  Indians.  The  building  was  of  fair  size,  but 
had  only  one  door  and  no  windows  at  all.  either  below  -^r 
above.  The  tipper  story  was  larger  than  the  lower,  extending 
ton  feet  on  each  side.  This  extension  enabled  the  men  within 
to  shoot  down  upon  the  Indians  who  might  come  near  to  set 
fire  to  the  house,  or  even  to  pour  water  upon  a  fire  already 
kindled.  Such  a  building  probably  no  longer  exists  in  Penn- 
sylvania. 

The  first  Lutheran  family  I  met  in  Crawford  county  lived 
on  Stigar  Creek,  four  or  five  miles  south  of  Meadville.  They 
had  not  heard  a  German  sermon  in  a  long  time,  and  requested 
me  to  announce  services  to  be  held  in  the  court  house  on  the 
following  Sunday.  From  these  people  I  learned  the  following 
information  concerning  the  aflfairs  of  our  Church  in  that  region. 
A  rogue  named  Muckenhaupt  had  at  first  come  among  the  set- 
tlers as  a  preacher,  but  he  could  not  stay  very  long;  he  went 
away  leaving  his  wife  and  children  uncared  for.  It  was  still 
said  of  this  vagabond  that  he  could  preach  more  powerfully, 
drink  more,  and  curse  more  loudly  than  any  one  else  within  a 
hundred  miles.  The  first  regularly  called  Lutheran  preacher 
in  the  district  was  Pastor  Colson.  His  parish  consisted  of  four 
small  congregations ;  namely,  in  Meadville,  on  Connaught 
Lake,  on  French  Creek,  and  in  Erie  county.  His  salary  was 
S400.  The  travelling  expenses  of  his  family  from  Northamp- 
ton county  to  Meadville.  and  the  expense  of  moving  his  house-- 
hold  eflfects  were  to  be  paid  by  the  congregations.     Two  teams 


24 

with  four  horses  each  were  sent ;  the  expense  reckoned  on  was 
about  $80.  But  the  journey  proved  very  slow.  The  team- 
sters were  delayed  by  rain,  impassable  roads,  and  high  water, 
and  when  settlement  was  made  the  congregations  had  to  pay 
instead  of  $80,  more  than  $300.  This  caused  dissatisfaction 
among  the  members.  Pastor  Colson  did  what  he  could  to 
lend  the  flock  entrusted  to  him.  The  spirit  was  willing,  but 
his  bodily  strength  was  unequal  to  the  task  of  serving  a  parish 
extending  forty  miles.  Before  a  year  was  past  the  death  of 
their  pastor  again  left  the  congregations  vacant. 

Under  these  circumstances  those  church  members  who  at 
other  times  were  mcst  zealous  became  disheartened,  and  no 
attempt  was  made  to  call  another  pastor.  My  arrival  was  alto- 
gether unexpected  ;  they  rejoiced,  but  did  not  know  at  first 
vvlicther  they  could  support  a  preacher.  But  after  I  had 
preached  in  the  congregations  new  life  and  new  zeal  were  man- 
ilfcsted.  Before  my  time  as  travelling  preacher  had  expired 
they  requested  me  to  remain,  and  the  four  congregations  unan- 
imously called  me  as  their  pastor.  In  the  Erie  congregation  I 
preached  in  a  school-house  ;  the  congregation  on  French  Creek 
built  a  small  frame  Church  ;  in  Meadville  we  held  our  meetings 
in  the  court-house,  and  on  Connaught  Lake  John  Braun  had 
the  largest  house  at  that  time :  we  were  kindly  welcomed  by 
iiim,  not  only  for  Sunday  services,  but  in  winter  also  for  hold- 
mg  a  school  in  his  house. 

Among  the  attendants  at  French  Creek  there  were  several 
fnmilies  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  German  language. 
They  had  formerly  lived  in  a  place  where  they  could  attend 
Church  regularly,  as  they  had  been  accustomed  to  do  from 
their  youth.  These  people  so  urgently  and  persistently  re- 
quested me  to  preach  to  them  in  English  for  their  instruction 
and  edification,  that  I  finally  had  to  consent  and  make  the  at- 
tempt. This  apparently  slight  circumstance  I  now  regard  as 
one  of  the  important  turning  points  of  my  life ;  for  my  future 
work  must  necessarily  have  taken  an  altogether  different  course 
:f  I  had  not  been  able  to  preach  in  both  languages. 

Of  the  many  errorists  who  since  that  time  have  spread 
over  almost  the  entire  country  nothing  was  then  known  in 


25 

Crawford  and  Erie  counties.  The  young-  people  gladly  at- 
tended instructions.  In  the  spring  of  1818  thirty-five  cate- 
chumens renewed  their  baptismal  vows ;  all  of  them  had  mem- 
orized the  five  parts  of  the  Catechism,  and  were  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  order  of  salvation.  In  the  meantime  the 
temporal  affairs  of  the  congregations  were  not  neglected.  In 
order  to  enable  them  to  buy  forty  acres  of  land  with  house  and 
barn,  the  following  plan  was  adopted  :  The  women  of  the  four 
congregations  formed  a  society ;  each  member  obligated  her- 
self to  contribute  monthly  the  value  of  one-  pound  of  butter. 
The  usual  price  of  butter  was  twelve  cents  a  pound.  Since 
there  were  at  least  a  hundred  women  in  the  congregations  the 
neat  sum  of  $150  could  in  this  way  be  collected  annually. 

In  1818  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  met  in  Harrisburg, 
where  the  Rev.  Dr.  G.  Lochmann  was  pastor.  The  distance 
from  Meadville  was  more  than  two  hundred  miles,  and  the 
journey  was  tedious  and  difficult  because  of  the  great  rains. 
Southeast  of  Franklin,  in  Clarion  county,  I  came  to  the  Tobys 
Creek ;  the  banks  were  flooded  on  both  sides,  and  here  there 
was  neither  white  man  nor  Indian  to  take  me  across.  I  had 
either  to  turn  back  or  swim.  Although  entirely  unskilled  m 
such  arts,  I  chose  the  latter  alternative,  and  landed  safely  on 
the  other  side, — for  which  I  had  to  thank  God  and  the  good 
swimmer  on  which  I  sat  more  than  my  own  foresight  or  skill. 
I  did  not  reach  Harrisburg  until  Sunday ;  in  time,  however,  to 
attend  the  morning  service. 

The  Lutheran  preachers  at  that  time  living  in  Maryland, 
and  their  congregations,  still  belonged  to  the  Mother  Synod  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  vacant  congregation  in  Cumberland,  Md., 
had  sent  a  petition  to  the  Synod  that  it  be  again  supplied  with 
?  preacher.  When  the  matter  came  to  be  talked  over  in  the 
Ministerium  and  the  petition  was  read,  it  appeared  that  the 
congregation  wanted  to  have  preaching  in  both  languages. 
But  among  the  members  of  the  Ministerium  there  were  com- 
paratively few  who  could  preach  in  both,  and  of  those  few  none 
was  inclined  to  accept  the  call  to  Cumberland.  From  my  diary 
which  as  a  candidate  I  had  handed  to  the  Synod  for  examina- 
tion it  became  known  that  I  had  made  several  English  addresses 


26 

without  failure.  The  result  was  that  the  young-  candidate  was 
appointed  to  answer  the  petition  from  Cumberland  in  person, 
and,  if  no  special  hindrances  existed,  to  take  charge  of  the  con- 
gregation. For  the  congregations  in  Crawford  county  an- 
other preacher  was  then  to  be  appointed. 

Cumberland  is  peculiarly  situated  on  the  Potomac  River 
and  Will's  Creek ;  surrounded  by  hills  and  mountains  on  all 
sides,  the  traveler  does  not  see  the  city  until  he  comes  quite 
near.  In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  town  on  the  right  side  of 
the  road  stood  an  old  two-story  block-house ;  the  upper  win- 
dows were  boarded  shut ;  at  one  gable-end  two  long  beams 
were  fastened,  and  between  them  hung  an  uncovered  bell.  The 
whole  had  a  repulsive  appearance,  and  when  I  was  told  that  this 
was  the  Lutheran  Church,  I  could  form  no  favorable  impres- 
sion of  the  congregation.  But,  in  spite  of  this,  the  Lord  had 
an  important  field  of  labor  for  me  here ;  a  door  was  opened  for 
me,  and  I  labored  with  blessing  in  Cumberland  and  the  sur- 
rounding country  for  six  years.  The  Church  building  had 
been  begun  more  than  twenty  years  before.  The  first  Luth- 
eran preacher  who  preached  here  occasionally  was  Friederich 
Lang,  who  lived  in  Somerset,  Pa.  After  him  Pastor  J.  G.  But- 
ler, grandfather  of  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Butler,  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
was  called.  The  congregation  had  now  been  w'ithout  a 
preacher  since  1815,  and  was  thus  falling  into  ruins.  Judging 
from  what  I  heard  from  the  people.  Father  Butler  (personally 
T  did  not  know  him)  must  have  been  a  believing  pastor  w^ho  in- 
sisted upon  repentance  and  conversion.  But  on  the  other 
hand  he  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  dictatorial  and  unbend- 
ing, so  that  he  was  not  popular ;  when  finally  the  weakness  of 
old  age  was  added,  and  he  could  no  longer  attend  to  his  pas- 
toral duties,  the  congregations  wasted  away.  At  the  last  cele- 
bration of  the  Holy  Communion  before  his  death  only  five 
persons  communed.  As  far  as  men  could  see,  the  Lutheran 
congregation  in  Cumberland  was  dead.  But  the  Lord  found 
ways  and  means  to  gather  the  small  flock  again.  Here  also 
the  saying  held  true : 

"Gottes  Wort  unci  Luther's  Lehr 
Vergehet  nun  und  nimmer  mehr." 


27 

One  of  those  whom  Pastor  Butler  had  confirmed,  Mar- 
tin Rizcr,  was  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  God  to  give  new  energy  to 
our  Church  in  that  district.  He  regarded  it  his  duty  to  keep 
holy  the  Sabbath,  and  on  Sunday  to  go  where  believing  Chris- 
tians assembled  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  After  the  Lu- 
theran congregation  was  without  a  preacher,  he  frequently 
went  to  the  Methodist  Church,  but  without  intending  to  be- 
come unfaithful  to  his  own  Church.  But  the  proselyters  were 
not  satisfied  that  Martin  Rizer  simply  attended  their  meetings ; 
they  thought  he  should  renounce  his  Lutheranism,  and  become 
a  Methodist.  A  local  preacher  usually  called  Father  Hen- 
drickson  spoke  to  him  as  follows  one  day:  "Martin,  I  see  you 
attend  our  meetings  regularly,  but  you  ought  to  join  our 
Church  entirely." 

"Father  Hendrickson,"  Martin  replied,  "I  am  a  member 
of  the  Christian  Church,  and  belong  to  the  Lutheran  congrega- 
tion ;  I  consider  it  entirely  unnecessary  to  join  any  other." 

"But,"  said  Father  Hendrickson,  "the  Lutheran  congre- 
gation is  in  a  bad  way ;  the  few  cold  name-Christians  who  call 
themselves  Lutherans  will  not  be  able  to  maintain  the  congre- 
gation ;  you  are  a  converted  Christian ;  we  would  like  to  have 
you." 

"Lo,"  answered  the  Lutheran  deacon,  "there  you  sin  against 
the  tenth  Commandment,  which  says :  Thou  shalt  not  covet. 
Father  Hendrickson,  let  us  consider  this  matter  aright.  Sup- 
pose that  in  one  house  there  were  two  rooms  full  of  people,  and 
in  one  there  were  twelve  lights,  in  the  other  only  one.  Now 
some  one  comes  from  the  brightly  lighted  room  to  take  away 
the  one  light,  and  place  it  in  his  room.  Would  not  the  people 
in  the  one  room  be  left  in  total  darkness,  and  those  in  the  other 
would  not  know  they  had  more  light  than  before?  Could  you 
call  this  well  done?" 

The  old  i^reacher  was  beaten ;  he  clapped  the  man  on  the 
shoulder  and  said :  "I  understand  what  you  are  driving  at ;  you 
are  right.  Stay  where  you  are,  and  let  your  light  shine  where 
the  Lord  your  God  has  placed  you." 

Soon  after  this  conversation,  Mr.  Rizer,  to  his  great  joy, 
learned  that  the  Lord  Jesus  had  through  his  Holy  Spirit  awak- 


28 

ened  four  fathers  of  families,  four  of  the  cold  Lutheran  name- 
Christians,  and  had  called  to  them:  "Return,  ye  backsliding 
children,  and  I  will  heal  your  backslidings."  Jer.  3  :  22.  Each 
of  the  four,  John  Sailer,  Joseph  Belong,  John  Schuck  and  Ja- 
cob Riissel,  had  taken  the  call  to  heart ;  they  answered  unani- 
mously: "Behold,  we  come  unto  Thee,  for  Thou  art  the  Lord 
our  God."  For  many  years  the  people  who  had  thus  been 
awakened  had  immediately  joined  the  Methodist  congrega- 
tion. But  the  above  named  four  took  refuge  with  the  Luth- 
eran deacon,  Martin  Rizer,  and  held  meetings  and  prayer-meet- 
ings alone  as  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  They  praised 
God  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  and  found  favor 
among  all  the  people.  And  the  Lord  added  to  the  congrega- 
tion daily  such  as  were  saved.  Now,  too,  the  desire  arose  in 
all  to  call  a  Lutheran  pastor,  and  to  this  end  they  had  petitioned 
the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  which  met  in  Harrisburg  that  year. 

In  this  condition  I  found  the  congregation  at  my  first  ar- 
rival. There  were  among  the  people  many  souls  longing  for 
salvation,  who  desired  the  pure  milk  of  the  Gospel,  and  in 
whom  the  marks  of  a  lamb  of  Jesus  could  readily  be  recognized  ; 
for  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  good  Shepherd,  they  followed 
Hirn,  and  from  strangers  they  fled  away.  But  without  a  shep- 
herd ordained  by  the  Holy  Ghost  they  would  not  long  have  re- 
mained unharmed  by  the  wolves  and  men  who  speak  perverted 
doctrines,  who  draw  disciples  to  themselves.  This  convic- 
tion, together  with  other  circumstances,  induced  me  to  accept 
the  call.  After  I  had  preached  in  Cumberland  and  in  two 
country  congregations  we  came  to  an  agreement,  and  I  prom- 
ised to  return  as  soon  as  I  had  set  in  order  my  affairs  in  Craw- 
tord  county,  and  to  make  my  home  in  Cumberland. 

That  my  former  congregations  would  not  be  satisfied  with 
the  proposed  change  I  well  knew.  But  the  prospect  of  being 
able  to  call  a  successor  before  long  pacified  them,  and  Pastor 
Rupert  was  ready  to  take  the  place  soon  after  I  left.  Before  I 
left  Meadville  my  salary  was  duly  paid.  Amid  wishes  of  suc- 
cess and  blessing  we  took  leave  of  each  other.  In  i860,  when 
I  lived  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  I  quite  unexpectedly  received  a 
friendly  letter  from  Crawford  county,  written  by  George  Peifer 


29 

and  Israel  Berlin,  who  in  1818  were  already  zealous  members  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  They  gave  me  the  gratifying  assurance 
that  after  forty-two  years  I  was  still  held  in  kind  remembrance 
by  the  old  inhabitants  of  that  district. 

Herr  Jesu,  stehe  Du  uns  bei 

Mit  Deiner  Gnadenhand, 
Und  fiihre  uns  hinauf 

In's  reclUe  Vaterland ! 

If  our  Lutheran  deacon  Martin  Rizer  had  not  remained 
faithful  to  his  Church  when  he  was  expected  to  renounce  his 
Lutheranism  and  become  a  Methodist,  we  would  in  all  prob- 
ability have  no  English  Lutheran  congregation  in  Cumberland, 
Md.,  to-day.  Had  Martin  Rizer  joined  the  sectarians,  the  men 
who  at  that  time  were  awakened  would  have  done  the  same,  and 
our  small  flock  would  have  been  scattered.  Brother  Rizer  had 
'='xceptional  gifts  in  exhorting,  and  singing,  and  praying,  as  also 
in  visiting  the  sick ;  he  was  a  great  help  to  the  young  inexperi- 
enced preacher.  Because  of  the  office  he  honored  the  preacher, 
and  instead  of  seeking  his  own  honor  he  always  exerted  himself 
to  uphold  the  influence  and  respect  of  the  preacher  among  the 
people,  and  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  congregation. 
Preacher  and  deacon  walked  hand  in  hand,  and  the  Lord  bless- 
ed and  prospered  their  efforts. 

My  English  sermons  at  first  attracted  no  special  attention 
among  the  people.  The  proselyters  harbored  no  fear  that 
the  little  German  preacher  would  put  a  stop  to  their  sheep-steal- 
ing. But  gradually,  as  through  diligence  and  practice  I  at- 
tained greater  proficiency,  the  audiences  increased ;  the  people 
were  curious  to  hear  the  strange  preacher ;  the  crowds  came  to 
us.  At  three  different  communions  I  confirmed  after  due  in- 
struction eighty  new  members.  Now  the  people  said :  The 
light  is  removed  from  the  place  in  which  it  formerly  stood.  Ail 
the  machinery  of  the  sectarians  was  set  in  motion  to  hurt  us. 
Class  meetings  and  camp-meetings  were  held,  and  great  efforts 
were  made  to  entice  away  our  sheep  and  lambs.  A  few  weak, 
inconstant  persons  permitted  themselves  to  be  led  astray,  but 
in  the  main  our  envious  neighbors  could  accomplish  little  or 


30 

nothing,  for  the  Lord  had  set  them  a  Hmit :  "So  far,  and  no  far- 
ther." Built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Pro- 
phets, Jesus  Christ  Himself  being  the  corner-stone,  our  con- 
gregation grew  into  a  holy  temple  unto  the  Lord. 

The  old  Church  was  finally  completed ;  a  new  pulpit  and  a 
tower  in  proportion  with  the  building  on  the  south  side,  gave 
the  place  a  more  churchly  appearance  than  it  had  in  1818.  Out 
of  love  to  the  children  in  the  congregations  we  felt  constrained 
to  establish  a  Sunday  School,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  Alleghany 
County,  Md.  Among  the  scholars  was  a  hearty  little  boy  nam- 
ed Peter  Rizer,  who  in  time  became  preacher  in  the  German 
Lutheran  congregation  of  Cumberland.  During  his  pastorate 
the  congregation  built  a  beautiful  large  Church  in  which  Pa.s- 
lor  G.  H.  Vosseler  now  preaches.  Until  my  fourteenth  year  I 
was  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  English  language,  and 
Brother  Rizer  was  still  older  when  he  began  to  learn  German. 
Yet  the  Lord  so  brought  things  about  that  Bro.  Rizer  had  to 
preach  in  Cumberland  in  German  only  and  I  in  English  only, 
in  accordance  with  our  calls. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania 
in  1819  was  held  in  Lancaster.  At  this  time  I  with  several 
other  candidates  was  ordained,  after  having  been  a  candidate 
for  two  years.  The  Synod  requested  me  to  visit  some  districts 
in  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  and  to  provide  our  brethren  in  the 
faith  with  Word  and  Sacraments.  But  to  this  I  could  consent 
only  on  condition  that  during  my  absence  the  congregations 
in  and  near  Cumberland  be  served  by  the  preachers  living 
nearest.  Pastors  A.  Reck,  of  Winchester,  C.  P.  Krauth,  of 
Shepherdstown,  and  B.  Kurtz,  of  Hagerstown,  undertook  to 
preach  for  me.  These  brethren  were  at  that  time  in  their  best 
years,  and  the  congregation  in  Cumberland  in  this  way  became 
acquainted  with  some  of  the  best  English  Lutheran  preachers. 
The  congregation  at  that  time  still  used  Watt's  collection  of 
hymns,  which  furnished  Brother  Krauth  occasion  to  remark 
jokingly  when  he  preached  in  Cumberland:  "It  seems  I  shall 
to-day  sing  Presbyterian  and  preach  Lutheran." 

At  first  we  had  only  two  country  congregations,  and  to 
save  expense  I   kept  no  horse,  but  travelled  about  on  foot. 


31 

Gradually  my  parish  grew  larger  and  larger  and  the  journeys 
en  foot  became  too  wearisome.  Once  it  happened  that  I  spent 
the  whole  night  in  a  hilly  country  under  the  open  sky.  As  is 
related  of  the  Patriarch  Jacob  so  did  I  also :  I  took  a  stone  and 
put  it  for  my  pillow,  and  lay  down  in  that  place  to  sleep.  But 
the  ladder  reaching  to  heaven  I  did  not  see,  for  I  was  too  tired 
with  walking  and  slept  without  dreaming.  Not  long  after  this 
I  received  a  horse  with  saddle  and  bridle  as  a  gift  from  some 
Christian  friends.  Now  the  field  of  my  labors  grew  still  more 
until  I  had  to  travel  over  a  district  80  miles  long  and  30  miles 
wide.  Ten  Lutheran  preachers  now  live  in  the  district 
where  at  that  time  I  alone  was  episcopus-regionarius.  I  spent 
three  months  on  my  missionary  journey  to  Kentucky  and  In- 
diana; in  July  I  left  Cumberland  and  at  the  end  of  October  I 
was  again  at  home  with  my  dear  family.  In  the  state  of  Ken- 
tucky I  found  Lutheran  families  in  Boone,  Jefferson  and  Nelson 
counties ;  in  Indiana  I  visited  Harrison,  Boyd  and  Jefferson 
counties,  and  preached  to  our  brethren  in  the  faith  who  lived 
there.  The  small  tracts,  500  of  which  I  had  taken  along  for 
distribution,  were  carefully  read  by  many  people,  and  I  hope 
proved  a  blessing  to  many. 

Louisville  was  at  that  time  already  quite  an  important 
town  ;  among  the  residents,  however,  I  found  few  belonging  to 
our  Church.  But  none  the  less  an  appointment  was  made  that 
I  should  preach  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  Wednesday 
evening.  On  the  preceding  Sunday  I  was  in  JefTerson  county, 
thirteen  miles  from  Louisville ;  and  this  distance  I  could  easily 
ride  on  Wednesday  afternoon.  The  time  came  and  brought 
storm  and  wind.  In  the  pleasantest  weather  I  had  expected 
only  a  small  audience,  and  now  I  thought  none  at  all  would 
come ;  thus  I  was  induced  to  stay  where  it  was  dry.  But  what 
happened?  Toward  evening  it  cleared,  the  full  moon  rose,  and 
the  evening  was  pleasant.  The  Church,  as  I  afterward  heard, 
was  filled,  but  no  preacher  came,  and  the  people  had  to  go 
home  without  a  sermon.  I  was  very  sorry,  and  resolved  nevei 
again  to  permit  unfavorable  weather  to  hinder  me,  but  always 
to  be  at  the  place  where  services  were  announced  at  the  time  ap- 


32 

pointed.  For  the  last  forty-five  years  I  have  kept  the  resolu- 
tion. 

There  is  another  circumstance  connected  with  this  mis- 
sionary journey  which  I  have  not  forgotten.  Some  good 
friends  informed  me  that  in  many  western  districts  no  good 
drinking  water  could  be  found,  and  thought  that  in  order  to 
avoid  evil  consequences  I  must  drink  brandy  with  the  water. 
This  was  contrary  to  my  views  and  principles.  From  boyhood 
I  had  abstained  from  the  use  of  brandy,  etc.  This  I  had  done 
upon  the  advice  of  a  reverend  old  man,  72  years  of  age,  named 
Lenkhart,  When  I  took  leave  of  him  in  1807  he  said :  "Dear 
young  man,  you  are  going  out  into  the  wide  world ;  beware  of 
brandy  and  other  intoxicating  drinks,  through  which  so  many 
young  people  ruin  both  body  and  soul.  I  am  now  72  years  old 
and  have  never  used  such  drinks,  and  if  you  will  do  the  same 
you  will  certainly  not  be  sorry  if  you  ever  become  as  old  as  I 
am."  This  was  a  word  fitly  spoken  for  me,  and  this  advice  re- 
ceived fifty-eight  years  ago  I  have  followed  ever  since.  To  ail 
young  people  I  would  give  the  advice:  "Go,  and  do  likewise." 
He  who  is  wise  looks  unto  the  end,  and  saves  himself  as  soon 
as  he  can.  In  order  to  prevent  the  effects  of  bad  drinking  wa- 
ter, I  took  two  small  bottles  of  essence  of  pepperwort,  and 
when  necessary  poured  a  few  drops  of  this  into  the  water,  and 
thus  the  drinking  of  bad  water  did  me  no  harm. 

The  condition  of  the  revived  Lutheran  congregation  in 
Cumberland  was  such  that  some  kind  of  union  with  other  Chris- 
tian denominations  seemed  in  many  respects  desirable  and  even 
necessary.  The  small  number  of  families  belonging  to  the  Re- 
formed, Presbyterian,  or  Episcopalian  Churches  were  not  yet 
able  to  build  Churches,  and  were  inclined  to  assist  the  Luther- 
ans rather  than  the  Methodists.  The  Rev.  R.  Kennedy,  a 
Presbyterian  preacher,  taught  a  Latin  school  during  the  week, 
and  preached  in  the  court  house  on  Sundays,  even  before  T 
moved  to  Cumberland.  But  when  our  Church  was  completed, 
the  arrangement  was  made  that  we  should  preach  in  it  on  al- 
ternate Sundays.  This  explains  how  it  happened  that  Watt's 
collection  of  hymns  was  used  in  the  Lutheran  congregation 
tor  a  time.     At  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  both 


33 

preachers  generally  participated.  The  members  of  the  Re- 
formed and  the  Episcopalian  Churches  also  communed  with 
us,  and  a  kind  of  union  grew  up  which  was  by  no  means  strict- 
ly Lutheran.  Circumstances  had  brought  it  about ;  the  union 
existed  before  we  ourselves  were  entirely  in  the  clear  concern- 
ing it.     Many  thought : 

Let  Dames  and  eects  and  factions  fall, 
And  Jeflus  Cbrl0t  to  us  be  all  in  all. 

As  long  as  I  lived  in  Cumberland  no  difficulties  grew  out 
of  this  arrangement,  but  it  was  afterwards  shown  that  the  time 
had  not  yet  come  of  which  we  read,  John  lo:  i6:  "And  there  shall 
be  one  fold  and  one  Shepherd."  The  Presbyterians  have  since 
built  their  own  Church,  so  also  the  Episcopalians ;  the  old 
members  of  the  Reformed  Church  the  Lord  has  taken  to  Him- 
self, and  new  members  are  not. 

In  theWellersville  congregation,  nine  miles  north  of  Cum- 
berland, no  such  conglomeration  existed.  Father  Giese 
preached  for  the  Reformed,  and  each  of  us  tended  to  the  flock 
entrusted  to  him.  But  in  the  Glades  congregation,  about 
sixty  miles  west  of  Cumberland,  where  I  preached  once  every 
six  or  eight  weeks,  we  went  a  step  farther  even  than  in  Cum- 
berland. In  order  to  unite  the  inhabitants  of  the  entire  district 
fnto  one  congregation,  a  Church  Council  was  elected  consist- 
ing of  two  Lutherans,  one  Reformed,  and  one  Presbyterian. 
The  people  were  satisfied,  and  as  long  as  I  served  the  congre- 
gation everything  went  along  smoothly.  But  such  things  can- 
not last  long.  I  am  now  a  stricter  Lutheran  than  I  was  then, 
and  would  not  recommend  such  a  procedure ;  it  might  do  more 
harm  than  good.  Fortunately,  the  men  elected  to  the  Church 
Council  were  kind-hearted  and  reasonable.  The  Presbyterian 
elder  was  a  son  of  the  well-known  New  England  theologian  who 
upheld  the  strictest  Calvinistic  views,  and  after  whom  the  Hop- 
kinsinians  were  named.  But  the  son,  who  lived  in  western 
Maryland,  laid  no  special  stress  on  these  doctrines,  and 
lived  a  quiet  Christian  life.  The  following  incident  occurred 
in  the  fall  of  1821  or  1822.  when  scarcely  any  apples  had  grown 
in  Cumberland,  but  the  fruit-trees  in  the  Glades  congregation 
had  borne  plentifully.     Mr.  Hopkins  kindly  wished  to  supply 


34 

my  family  with  apple-butter,  and  I  was  to  take  it  with  me  on 
Monday.  I  had  stayed  with  a  neighbor,  and  on  Sunday  evening 
went  over  to  Mr.  Hopkins  by  moonlight.  When  I  came  to  the 
house  I  found  the  family  busy  paring  apples  and  cooking  ap- 
ple-butter, which  certainly  surprised  me.  But  Mr.  H.  was  not 
at  all  embarrassed ;  he  gave  me  his  hand  and  said :  "You  will 
think  us  poor  Christians  because  you  find  us  at  this  work ;  but 
I  can  give  you  satisfactory  explanation.  From  sunset  on  Sat- 
urday to  sunset  on  Sunday  is  our  weekly  day  of  rest.  The 
fact  is  well  known  to  my  neighbors  that  in  my  family  the  work 
of  the  week  ends  on  Saturday  evening;  on  the  other  hand  we 
do  on  Sunday  evening  what  other  conscientious  Christians 
would  not  begin  to  do  until  after  midnight.  I  hope  you  will 
not  despise  our  apple-butter  on  this  account."  Another  Pres- 
byterian, A.  Schmidt  by  name,  a  native  of  Scotland,  was  more 
Calvinistic  than  Hopkins,  but  a  zealous  church-goer.  He 
lived  twelve  miles  from  where  I  preached,  but  it  was  not  too 
far  for  him  to  attend  the  services  regularly.  From  this  small 
congregation  three  men  were  afterward  called  to  be  Lutheran 
preachers,  the  brothers  A.  Weils  and  S.  Weils,  and  G.  Schaef- 
fer.  One  of  these  I  baptized,  and  one  I  confirmed.  The  Lord 
grant  them  grace  to  do  the  work  of  evangelical  preachers,  and 
fight  a  good  fight  in  the  Lord. 

The  congregation  in  Cumberland  had  for  some  time  been 
increasing  so  rapidly  that  we  undertook  to  invite  the  Synod  of 
Maryland  to  meet  in  our  midst.  This  happened  in  September, 
1822,  and  was  a  benefit  and  a  blessing  to  the  congregation. 
Among  other  business  transacted  by  the  Synod,  the  Church 
Constitution,  since  then  recommended  by  the  General  Synod, 
was  discussed  item  by  item.  S.  S.  Schmucker  and  B.  Kurtz 
look  a  specially  active  part  in  the  transactions.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
D.  Kurtz,  of  Baltimore,  also  was  in  attendance.  He  preached 
on  Sunday  afternoon,  and  those  who  had  not  forgotten  the 
mother-tongue  listened  to  him  with  great  attention,  and  took 
his  sermon  to  heart.  It  was  something  new  for  the  people  to 
see  so  many  Lutheran  preachers  together,  and  the  whole  Synod 
made  a  very  favorable  impression  on  the  city  and  surrounding 


35 

district.  From  that  time  on  Lwtheranism  spread  ever  more 
and  more  in  Allcg-hany  county. 

Still  it  is  not  always  sunshine;  days  of  sorrow  also  come. 
So  it  happened  in  Cumberland.  In  October,  1822,  we  were 
visited  by  the  intermittent  fever;  not  a  family  escaped.  In 
the  winter  it  abated  somewhat ;  but  during  the  summer  of  1823 
it  raged  worse  than  before.  My  whole  family  was  sick ;  our 
youngest  child  the  Lord  took  to  Himself.  For  several  months 
1  was  unable  to  attend  to  my  duties  regularly.  Upon  the  ad-- 
vice  of  the  physican  we  moved  ten  or  twelve  miles  from  Cum- 
berland into  the  mountains  where  people  are  never  attacked 
by  this  fever.  During  this  epidemic  many  people  made  a  con- 
tract with  the  doctors  to  pay  a  certain  sum  annually,  for  which 
the  services  of  the  doctor  could  be  requested  at  any  time  when 
some  one  in  the  family  became  sick. 

While  I  was  thus  situated,  I  unexpectedly  received  an  in- 
vitation to  preach  in  Somerset,  Pa.  Since  1820  Pastor  P. 
Schmucker  had  served  the  congregation,  but  now  he  had  mov- 
ed to  Ohio.  Some  time  previously  the  following  incident  oc- 
curred :  Mr.  Schmucker  was  visiting  me  and  preached  in  the 
evening  on  I.  Tim.  1:15:  "This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  wor- 
thy of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  chief."  The  Presbyterian  preacher, 
Mr.  Kennedy,  was  also  present.  The  sermon  made  no  favor- 
able impression  ;  the  people  were  not  satisfied.  On  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  Mr.  Kennedy  chose  the  same  text ;  and  a  week 
later  I  felt  called  upon  to  preach  on  the  same  words  again  in 
the  same  Church.  In  the  introduction  I  related  the  incident 
that  at  a  celcl)ralion  of  the  Lord's  Supper  three  preachers  were 
present.  When  the  first  preacher  read  his  text  at  the  prepara- 
tory service  on  Saturday,  the  other  two  seemed  somewhat  em- 
barrassed, for  it  was  the  same  passage  on  which  they  had  in- 
tended to  preach  on  Sunday:  John  i  :  29 :  "Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God  which  takcth  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  In  the  prepar- 
atory service  the  preacher  endeavored  mainly  to  direct  the  at- 
tention of  his  hearers  to  the  Lamb  of  God  ;  "Behold."  Th.c 
sermon  on  Sunday  morning  treated  of  the  "Lamb  of  God," 
and  in  the  evening  the  preacher  based  his  sermon  specially  on 


36 

the  words :  "Which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  In  this 
way  the  people  heard  a  rather  complete  and  satisfactory  ex- 
planation of  the  text.  The  congregation  in  Cumberland  also 
showed  no  dissatisfaction  with  having  had  the  opportunity  of 
hearing  three  different  preachers  on  one  and  the  same  text. 

Somerset  county  is  a  high,  mostly  unlevel  stretch  of  coun- 
try between  Laurel  Hill  and  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  The 
first  settlers  were  mostly  of  German  descent,  Lutherans,  Re- 
formed and  Dunkers.  The  first  regular  preacher  of  our 
Church  was  Pastor  M.  Steck,  St.,  who  as  early  as  1790,  and 
earlier,  when  he  still  lived  in  or  near  Chambersburg,  sought  out 
our  scattered  brethren  in  the  faith  in  the  wilderness  where  In- 
dians were  still  to  be  met  with.  In  1792  Pastor  Steck  moved 
to  Greensburg,  Westmoreland  county,  and  from  there  also  he 
visited  Somerset  until  the  small  congregations  were  able  to 
call  a  preacher  for  themselves.  Pastors  Lange,  Tiedemann, 
Rebenack  and  P.  Schmucker  had  served  the  congregations 
before  I  received  the  invitation  to  preach  there.  Somerset. 
Stoystown,  Friedensburg  and  Samuel's  Church  constituted  the 
parish.  In  the  county-seat,  Somerset,  it  was  necessary  to 
preach  English, ,  but  in  the  other  congregations  the  people 
clung  to  their  German  mother-tongue.  After  I  had  preached 
in  Somerset  count}^  for  some  months  while  still  living  in  Cum- 
berland, I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  accept  the  call  of  the  congre- 
gations, and  in  the  spring  of  1824  I  moved  to  Somerset.  As  I 
had  left  the  people  in  Meadville  in  a  friendly  manner,  six 
years  before,  so  now  also  peace  and  harmony  reigned  in  the 
Cumberland  congregation  when  I  resigned.  Some  months  ago 
T  again  visited  this  congregation  which  is  still  dear  to  me,  and 
sifter  forty  years  found  it  in  a  flourishing  condition  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  A.  J.  WeddelL  Some  of  my  former 
members  I  found  still  on  their  earthly  pilgrimage  and  in  con- 
nection with  the.  congregation.  But  Brother  Martin  (Rizer) 
had  entered  upon  the  joy  of  his  Lord  some  years  ago. 

About  the  time  when  I  moved  to  Somerset  a  new  sect  was 
being  formed,  which  had  for  its  founder  a  certain  Alexander 
Campbell,  a  native  of  Scotland.  This  sect  found  followers 
among  the  people  of  Somerset.     The  baptism  of  children,  in- 


37 

struction  in  the  catechism,  etc.,  were  rejected  by  them ;  im- 
mersion was  the  main  thing  with  the  sectarians ;  whoso  would 
be  saved  must  into  the  water.     Alexander  Campbell  originally 
belonged  to  the  Presbyterians;  he  had  remarkable  gifts  in  dis- 
putation, and  made  good  use  of  them  in  increasing  his  follow- 
ing.    He  was  fond  of  holding  public  disputations  on  Baptism, 
had  these  printed,  and  was  zealous  in  selling  them.     Our  peo- 
ple in  Somerset  became  embarrassed,  for  they  were  not  skilled 
in  polemics.     It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  entire  town  would 
soon  seek  its  salvation  in  the  water.       Under  these  circum- 
stances I  found  myself  compelled  to  defend  our  Church's  doc- 
trines in  the  pulpit.     In  announcing  that  at  the  next  service 
I  would  preach  on  Baptism,  I  remarked  :  "Our  Evangelical  Lu- 
iheran  Church  is  built  on  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and 
Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone. 
We  recognize  neither  Pope  nor  Bishop  who  has  the  right  to 
prescribe  to  us  or  command  us  ;  the  Bible  contains  the  divine 
lulc  and  guide  of  our  faith  and  life.     In  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
therefore,  we  desire  to  search ;  if  our  former  conviction  con- 
cerning Baptism  is  not  founded  on  God's  Word,  it  is  our  duty 
to  change  it ;  but  if  we  find  that  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  Bap- 
tism is  grounded  on  the  Bible,  we  will  not  let  ourselves  be 
moved  to  and  fro  by  every  wind  of  doctrine."    In  the  first  ser- 
mon the  question  was  treated:  Who  shall  be  baptized?     An- 
swer: Adult  believers  and  the  children  of  Christian  parents. 
The  second  sermon  treated  the  question  of  the  mode  of  Bap- 
tism.    In  the  third  sermon  I  intended  to  speak  on  the  question  : 
What  gifts  or  benefits  does  Baptism  confer?  But,  alas!  a  week 
after  the  second  sermon  on  Monday  morning  at  two  o'cleck 
the  whole  town  was  roused  from  sleep  by  an  alarm  of  fire, 
and,  lo  and  behold,  our  pretty  Lutheran  Church  was  in  flames. 
By  the  time  the  people  reached  it  nothing  was  left  to  be  saved, 
for  it  was  a  frame  building,  and  burned  down  to  the  foundation 
walls.     How  the  fire  started  remains  a  mystery  to  this  day. 
Many  suspected  and  asserted  it  must  have  been  started  by  fol- 
lowers of  A.  Campbell.     This  suspicion  was  strengthened  by 
the  fact  that  on  Monday  while  the  glowing  embers  were  still 
lying  about  the  place  Campbell  came  to  Somerset  to  refute  my 


38 

sermons.  But  the  people  were  so  strongly  moved  against  his 
proselyting  by  the  loss  of  their  Church  that  he  had  to  leave 
without  accomplishing  anything;  for  only  a  very  few  went  to 
hear  him.  On  the  same  day  the  Church  was  set  afire  and 
burned  the  congregation  made  preparations  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  brick  Church.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  as  soon  as 
possible  (in  1825).  But  for  various  reasons  the  building  did 
not  progress  as  rapidly  as  had  been  expected.  Under  thes? 
circumstances  the  Reformed  congregation  kindly  invited  us  tJ 
use  their  large  Church  until  we  could  move  into  our  Lutheran 
Zion.  The  sect  founded  by  A.  Campbell  has,  as  is  known, 
since  then  spread  in  many  portions  of  the  country ;  they  now 
call  themselves  Baptists,  but  are  not  recognized  by  the  ortho- 
dox Baptists,  because  they  do  not  agree  with  them  in  doctrines 
concerning  the  ground  of  faith.  In  Somerset  they  are  now 
quiet  and  less  pretentious  than  they  formerly  were.  Whether 
they  shall  continue  as  a  sect  is  doubtful ;  the  future  will  decide. 

Among  the  congregations  united  with  Somerset  the  Fried- 
ens  congregation,  five  miles  north  of  Somerset,  became  the 
largest  and  most  active.  In  order  to  have  the  pastor  in  their 
midst  this  congregation  erected  a  parsonage  beside  the  Church. 
With  this  country  dwelling  I  was  better  pleased  than  with  the 
small  towns  in  which  I  had  lived  before. 

In  1826  I  received  an  invitation  to  preach  in  congrega- 
tions in  Washington  county,  which  had  long  been  served  by 
Pastor  Weigant ;  I  was  also  elected,  but  considered  it  my  duty 
to  decline  the  call. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Endress  ended  his  earthly  pilgrimage  in 
1827;  the  congregation  in  Lancaster  called  the  Rev.  J.  Becker, 
of  Germantown,  and  Brother  Benjamin  Keller,  of  Carlisle,  was 
chosen  his  successor.  The  congregation  in  Carlisle  called  Pas- 
tor Ernst,  of  Lebanon,  but  he  was  unwilling  to  leave.  Quite 
unexpectedly  my  turn  came  next ;  I  was  not  acquainted  with 
any  one  in  Carlisle,  and  had  never  preached  there.  After  ma- 
ture deliberation  I  answered  that  if  the  congregation  intended 
to  invite  any  other  preacher  I  would  advise  that  he  be  heard 
first,  and  voted  on.  With  the  return  mail  the  invitation  to 
preach  was  renewed,  with  the  note  that  no  other  applicant 


39 

vvoiikl  be  voted  on.  but  that  after  I  had  preached  it  was  to  be 
decided  by  yes  or  no  whether  I  should  be  called  as  successor 
to  Pastor  B.  Keller  or  not. 

My  first  sermon  met  with  little'  favor,  and  had  the  election 
been  held  the  next  day  I  would  in  all  probability  not  have  been 
elected.  But  in  accordance  with  the  agreement  previously 
made  I  had  to  preach  again  on  Wednesday  evening,  and  this 
time  the  congregation  was  so  well  pleased  with  me  that  when 
the  election  was  held  no  one  voted  against  me.  My  friends  in 
Somerset  consented  to  let  me  go  away,  because  they  believed 
I  would  improve  my  circumstances.  Candidate  Daniel  Heilig 
was  elected  my  successor,  and  I  accepted  the  call  to  Carlisle. 
An  aristocratic  spirit  was  reigning  in  that  town  at  the  time, 
which  insisted  rigidly  on  rank  and  divided  the  inhabitants  into 
higher,  middle  and  lower  castes  or  strata.  With  all  the  af- 
fected superiority,  however,  there  was  much  glaring  poverty 
to  be  found  among  the  people.  As  a  preacher  coming  from 
the  West  my  appearance  in  Carlisle  attracted  no  special  notice ; 
many  were  even  inclined  to  look  upon  me  over  the  left  shoul- 
der. To  these  also  belonged  Mr.  John  Ibaugh,  preacher 
in  the  Reformed  congregation.  The  former  arrangement  had 
been  that  English  services  were  held  alternately  one  Sunday 
evening  in  the  Lutheran,  the  next  in  the  Reformed  Church. 
Because  of  the  country  congregations  it  was  too  much  for  the 
Lutheran  preacher  to  preach  in  Carlisle  every  Sunday  even- 
ing. But  about  this  time  Mr.  Ibaugh  began  to  announce  ser- 
vices in  his  Church  for  every  Sunday  evening.  But  it  did  not  last 
long,  for  many  of  his  own  members  wished  that  the  previous  ar- 
rangement be  retained,  and  he  found  that  on  the  evenings  when 
there  was  preaching  in  the  Lutheran  Church  his  Church  wa.v 
comparatively  empty.  The  following  incident  may  have  con- 
tributed somewhat  to  this  result.  Mr.  Ibaugh  had  announced 
that  he  would  deliver  a  series  of  lectures  on  the  Biblical  history 
of  the  Patriarchs  of  the  Old  Testament.  Not  long  before  ser- 
mons on  this  subject  had  been  printed  ;  one  of  his  hearers  look 
this  book  along  to  the  meeting  in  order  to  compare  Mr.  Ibaugh's 
lectures  with  it,  and.  behold,  he  found  a  verbal  agreement  v.ith 
what  was  printed  in  the  book.     When  this  became  known,  Mr. 


40 

Tbangh  was  done  with  biographical  lectures,  appointed  services 
for  every  two  weeks,  and  even  came  to  hear  me  preach  quite 
regularly. 

It  was  of  benefit  to  me  in  many  ways  that  the  congregation 
had  not  expected  too  much  of  mc  at  the  beginning,  for  I  could 
so  much  more  easily  satisfy  them,  and  my  sermons  were  more 
and  more  favorably  received.  The  young  people  w'ho  were 
growing  up  in  the  congregation  were  also  willing  to  attend 
catf^chetical  instruction  and  to  be  received  as  members  of  the 
congregation  by  confirmation.  Some  of  these  young  people 
belonged  to  families  who  had  set  a  time  for  moving  to  the 
West,  and  could  not  postpone  their  journey.  These  were  con- 
firmed some  weeks  earlier  than  the  rest,  and  admitted  to  the 
Ilo'y  Communion.  On  this  occasion  I  sought  to  bring  the 
words  of  the  angel  I  Kings  19:  7,  right  close  to  their  hearts: 
"Arise  and  eat,  for  thou  hast  a  long  journey  before  thee  "  Tlie 
Lord  was  with  us  and  manifested  His  gractious  presence  in  the 
large  assembly.  But  it  is  not  always  sunshine ;  alongside  of 
the  gratifying,  the  preacher  also  has  many  unpleasant  experi- 
ence's to  make.  The  camp-meeting  of  the  Methodists  in  Cum- 
beri?nd  county  was  visited  by  many  Church  people;  many  even 
thought  we  ought  to  omit  our  services  and  all  go  to  camp- 
meeting.  Especially  unpleasant  was  it  to  see  the  meuibers  of 
ilie  congregation  pass  by  the  Church  on  Sunday  mornmg  to 
attend  the  Methodist  meeting.  On  the  Sunday  when  this  hap- 
pened nothing  was  said  of  it  in  the  sermon ;  but  on  the  follow- 
ing Sunday  I  preached  on  2  Cor.  5:  14:  "The  love  of  Christ 
constroineth  us."  In  the  first  application  the  question  was 
asked :  To  what  shall  the  love  of  Christ  constrain  us  as  Church 
members?  Answer:  To  do  our  duty.  But  the  duty  of  mem- 
bers of  a  congregation  is  to  appear  regularly  at  the  appointed 
time  in  the  public  services.  They,  therefore,  err  who  think 
that  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  them  to  attend  the  camp- 
meetings,  especially  when  services  are  appointed  in  their  own 
Church.  This  presentation  of  truth,  which  was  made  earnestly, 
but  in  a  kindly  m.anner,  was  taken  to  heart  by  many.  A  sec- 
ond case  in  which  I  found  it  necessary  to  use  Church  discipline 
v\'as  the  following:  A  young  person  had  been  led  astray  and 


.57 

After  a  few  moments  we  went  out  to  talk  together  alone.  Now 
he  told  me  that  his  trunk  had  been  sent  to  Westmoreland 
county,  with  a  teamster;  but  there  he  could  learn  nothing  of 
either  teamster  or  trunk,  and  had,  therefore,  given  up  hope  of 
ever  seeing  his  clothes  and  books  again.  Under  these  circum- 
stances he  did  not  undertake  to  apply  for  the  congregations, 
for  he  thought  the  people  would  not  take  him  as  their  preacher, 
lie  being  a  stranger  with  threadbare  traveling-coat  and  torn 
shoes.  He  intended  to  earn  something  by  working,  in  order 
to  return  to  Germany  as  soon  as  possible ;  now  he  had  failed 
in  this  also,  and  he  did  not  know  what  to  do  next.  I  asked  him 
to  tell  me  honestly  whether  before  leaving-  Germany  he  had  not 
done  something  which  exiled  him  from  his  native  land,  and 
of  which  we  would  hear  sooner  or  later.  His  answer  was : 
"You  can  depend  upon  it  that  nothing  of  this  kind  induced  me 
to  emigrate  to  America.  I  completed  my  studies  regularly  and 
honorably ;  belong  to  the  Evangelical  Church  of  Prussia ;  my 
father  was  Reformed,  and  my  mother,  born  Lichtenstein,  was 
born  and  raised  a  Lutheran."  When  I  heard  the  name  Licht- 
enstein I  asked :  "Where  was  your  mother  born?"  "In  Helm- 
stedt."  So  his  mother  and  I  had  been  neighbors'  children  and 
playmates.  This  was  for  me  an  additional  motive  for  assist- 
ing the  young  man.  I  gave  him  money  to  buy  shoes,  and  told 
him  the  way  he  must  go  to  find  my  house.  In  the  course  of 
the  week  his  things  unexpectedly  arrived  at  .Somerset,  and  now 
he  had  neat  black  clothes.  He  preached  on  Sunday  very  ac- 
ceptably. Soon  after  he  visited  a  vacant  congregation  in  Pres- 
ton county,  \'irginia,  and  came  to  an  agreement  with  the  peo- 
ple, and  applied  to  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod  in  Mifflins- 
burg  for  admission. 

From  ]\Iirninsburg  he  returned  to  Preston  county  and 
preached  there  for  a  year.  Then  he  grew  homesick, and  suddenly 
started  out  to  visit  the  Fatherland,  but  he  had  not  sufficient 
money  to  pay  traveling  expenses.  After  he  had  taught  school 
for  a  time  he  came  to  Allentown  to  the  Homeopathic  Institute, 
and  finally  studied  anatomy  in  Philadelphia,  left  the  ministry 
and  became  a  practising  physician. 


58 

Another  incident  I  might  here  mention  in  few  words.  Af- 
ter the  Synodical  sermon  was  preached  in  Mifflinsburg  a  young 
man  came  to  me  arid  told  me  that  he  had  studied  theology  in 
Germany,  and  had  arrived  in  America  only  a  few  weeks  before, 
etc.  For  admission  into  the  Synod  he  did  not  apply.  His 
name  was  Nast,  the  same  who  can  in  many  respects  be  regarded 
the  founder  of  German  Methodism  in  America,  and  for  many 
years  has  found  an  extended  field  of  labor  in  Cincinnati.  If 
we  had  received  the  young  candidate  Nast  in  a  more  friendly 
and  affectionate  manner  in  Mifflinsburg,  he  might  perhaps  have 
remained  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  But — man  pro- 
poses and  God  disposes. 

Christianity  shall  be  spread  through  Christians.  Each 
Christian  is  called  and  in  duty  bound  to  take  active  part  in  the 
spreading  of  God's  Kingdom  on  earth ;  and  all  Christian 
congregations  should  try  with  united  powers  to  spread  the 
glad  tidings  of  our  Saviour  among  those  who  still  sit  in  the 
shadow  and  darkness  of  death,  as  also  among  those  who  in  the 
western  parts  of  our  country  live  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd 
scattered  here  and  there.  In  this  sacred  and  important  matter 
all  the  Synods  of  the  East  and  West  ought  to  work  together 
in  order  to  keep  up  our  missions  among  the  heathen  and  to 
cultivate  the  mission  fields  in  the  West.  A  two-fold  wall  is 
stronger  than  a  single  wall,  and  a  three-fold  cord  stronger 
than  a  single  cord.  Union  gives  strength.  The  division  which 
has  caused  so  much  strife  and  disunion  in  our  mother  church 
is  to  be  lamented ;  the  harm  which  it  has  caused  is  unspeakably 
great.  The  God  of  peace  have  mercy  on  His  quarreling  chil- 
dren! 


CHAPTER  V. 

In  October,  1835,  I  was  appointed  Agent  for  Home  Mis- 
sions for  five  years  by  the  Central  Missionary  Society.*  Ac- 
cordingly in  December  (27th),  1835,  I  for  the  second  time  badi 
the  congregations  in  and  around  Somerset  farewell,  after  hav- 
ing again  served  them  with  success  for  four  years.  After  the 
farewell  sermon  the  Church  officers  came  to  me  and  again 
requested  me  to  change  my  resolution  if  it  were  possible  and 
remain  with  them.  In  the  afternoon  the  remark  was  made  m 
the  family :  We  are  now  moving  away  from  here  against  the 
will  of  the  people  the  second  time,  and  may  not  think  of  ever 
again  making  our  home  in  this  parish.  My  answer  was:  The 
Lord's  will  be  done.  Just  then  I  took  up  a  Bible,  and  as  I 
opened  it  I  incidentally  saw  the  passage,  2  Cor.  12:  14:  "Be- 
hold, the  third  time  I  am  ready  to  come  unto  you."  After  an 
absence  of  more  than  twenty-five  years  this  has  also  been  ful- 
filled. I  again  live  in  Somerset,  and  intend,  if  the  Lord  will, 
to  spend  the  evening  of  my  life  here  in  quietness. 

Between  Christmas  and  New  Year  (Wednesday,  Dec.  30) 
I  started  on  the  journey  to  the  far  West.  Two  good  friends, 
F.  Gebhart  and  J.  L.  Snyder,  deacons  in  the  Somerset  con- 
gregation, accompanied  me  for  eight  miles  to  the  foot  of 
Laurel  Mountain,  where  we  spent  the  night  with  J.  Gebhart, 
at  that  time  Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  On  the  next 
morning  my  companions  returned  eastward  to  Somerset,  and 
I  went  on  my  way  alone  to  the  far  West.  In  Wheeling  I  met 
a  steamer  which  was  on  the  point  of  leaving.  In  this  way  I 
reached  Cincinnati  speedily  and  comfortably.  About  twelve 
miles  from  Cincinnati,  in  Kentucky,  lived  Pastor  Crigler,  for- 
merly my  neighbor  and  faithful  co-worker  in  Somerset  county. 
After  a  separation  of  several  years  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  again.     On  Sunday   the  people  gathered   from  near 

•The  letter  announcing  his  appointment,  dated  November  4.  and  signed 
by  Dr.  S.  S.  Srhmucker,  Secretary,  was  printed  in  the  Lutheran  Observer, 
December  4,  1835,  at  Heyer's  request,  so  as  to  serve  as  a  Jitter  of  introduc- 
tion. 


6o 

and  far  to  hear  and  Icarn  to  know  a  Lutheran  preacher. 
Brother  Crigler  was  a  faithful  pastor  who  is  still  kindly  remem- 
bered by  many,  although  he  entered  upon  the  joy  of  the 
Lord  more  than  twenty  years  ago. 

Li  Indiana  but  few  Lutheran  preachers  were  Hving  at  that 
time.  Brother  Abraham  Reck,  who,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  is 
now  the  oldest  of  our  living  preachers,  had  settled  not  far  from 
Indianapolis.  He  greeted  me  with  the  call:  "'Come  in,  thou 
blessed  of  the  Lord  ;  wherefore  standest  thou  without?"  We 
were  old  acquaintances  and  had  been  friends  in  Maryland. 
My  short  stay  was  made  as  comfortable  as  possible.  In 
Henry  county  I  found  the  old  war-hero  Lehmanowsky,*  who 
after  having  been  engaged  in  more  than  a  hundred  battles  un- 
der Napoleon,  finally  in  liis  older  years  served  under  the  ban- 
ner of  the  cross  of  Jesus  as  Lutheran  preacher.  He  had  lived 
through  much,  and  could  relate  much.  In  his  earlier  youth 
the  good  teachings  of  his  pious  mother  had  already  made  a 
blessed  impression  on  his  heart.  In  1809  he  was  present  when 
Josephine  was  divorced  from  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  A 
young  officer  asked  his  opinion  of  the  divorce ;  Lehmanowsky 
expressed  the  fear  that  because  of  this  transaction  divine  judg- 
ments would  come  upon  the  emperor ;  his  friend  mocked  him, 
and  called  him  a  superstitious  fool.  Some  years  after  when 
Napoleon  was  forced  to  abdicate  the  two  friends  again  met  in 
Paris,  and  he  who  had  been  light-hearted  and  mocking  now 
shared  the  views  of  Lehmanowsky  concerning  the  emperor's 
divorce  in  1809. 

In  the  battle  of  Waterloo  Lehmanowsky  served  as  adju- 
tant under  Marshal  Ney.  In  the  afternoon  when  the  French 
began  to  give  way,  the  marshal  sent  his  adjutant  to  the  em- 
peror to  ask  for  reinforcements.  Napoleon  answered :  "I  have 
none  to  send — the  fortune  of  war,  we  part!"  gave  his  gray 
horse  the  spurs,  hurried  away  and  abandoned  everything. 
Even  his  gorgeous  coach  together  with  valuable  documents 
was  captured  by  the  Prussians.  With  the  emperor's  fall  the 
hopes  of  the  Poles  fell  also.     As  a  foreigner  and  an  adherent 

*Of  whom  we  now  have  a  biography  in  the  form  of  a  romance:     "Under 
Two  Captains,"  by  Rev.  W.  A.  Sadtler,  Ph.  D. 


6i 

of  Napoleon,  Lehmanowsky  had  only  satl  prospects  in  France, 
lie  emigrated,  and  sought  a  livelihood  in  the  United  States. 
For  some  time  he  made  a  scanty  living  in  Washington  as  sec- 
retary. During  this  time  he  also  took  active  part  in  estal)lish- 
ing  the  fust  German  Lutheran  congregation  in  Washington, 
attended  various  conferences  and  synods,  became  accjuainted 
with  a  number  of  Lutheran  i)reachers,  and  was  finally  sent  to 
the  far  West  as  evangelist  by  the  Maryland  Synod,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  preaching  Christ  the  Crucified.  He  became 
an  active  meml^er  of  the  Synod  of  the  West.  At  last  in  high 
old  age,  satiated  with  life  and  weary,  he  prayed:  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  my  spirit,  and  fell  asleep  (in  1858). 

During  my  journey  through  Indiana  I  became  acquainted 
\\  ith  two  otiier  Lutheran  preachers,  namely,  Pastor  Miller  and 
Eusebius  Henkel.  IJoth  belonged  to  a  Synod  in  North  Caro- 
lina ;  but  I  was  kindly  received  and  affectionately  treated  by 
them.  Most  of  the  members  of  their  congregations  had  also 
moved  to  this  district  from  North  Carolina.  Many  of  them 
had  taken  part  in  the  Church  controversies  which  had  arisen 
under  the  leadership  of  Carl  Henkel  and  others.  I  had  several 
conversations  with  these  ])eople  and  found  that  they  were  quite 
at  home  in  Scripture,  well  educated  and  well  acc|uainted  with 
the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Their 
preachers  also  testified  of  them,  that  they  diligently  attended 
the  public  services  and  led  moral  lives. 

On  a  cold  Saturday  in  January,  1836,  I  reached  the  left 
or  eastern  l)ank  of  tlie  Wabash  river ;  on  the  opposite  bank 
lay  the  town  of  Mt.  Carmel,  which  had  been  founded  but  a 
few  years  before,  'ihe  river  was  greatly  swollen  and  the  boat- 
men did  not  want  to  risk  taking  my  horse  across  because  of 
the  ice-fioes  I  myself  reached  Mt.  Carmel  in  a  small  boat. 
The  host  with  whom  I  stopped  inmiediately  questioned : 
Where  from?  Where  to?  etc.  When  I  told  him  that  I  had 
gone  out  to  seek  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  he  sent 
for  a  zealous  and  fairly  educated  local  preacher  who  after- 
wards entertained  me  hospitably  at  his  home.  In  this  town, 
as  in  many  other  districts,  the  Methodists  hatl  gained  the  chief 
place ;  there  was  none  but  a  Methodist  Church  in  the  town. 


62 

No  German  Lutherans  lived  in  the  i^lace.  and  I  therefore  con- 
sented to  preach  in  the  Methodist  Cliurch  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing. The  congregation  was  large,  attentive  and  devout.  But 
before  the  end  of  the  sermon  the  zealous  local  preacher  became 
so  filled  with  the  spirit  of  joy  that  to  relieve  himself  somewhat 
he  struck  his  hands  together  and  cried  out  aloud:  "Yes,  that 
is  the  doctrine,  that  will  do  the  business!"  The  people  may 
have  been  accustomed  to  such  scenes,  for  they  were  not  dis- 
turbed by  it ;  but  it  almost  upset  me. 

Westward  from  Mt.  Carmel,  in  \\'abash  county,  there 
lived  several  Lutheran  and  Reformed  families,  most  of  whom 
had  moved  there  from  Lehigh  and  Northampton  counties  in 
Pennsylvania.  Among  these  people  there  was  still  a  churchly 
spirit ;  they  were  not  only  glad  to  see  a  Lutheran-  preacher 
among  lliem.  but  were  ready  to  buy  eighty  acres  of  public 
land  for  a  church  and  school,  and  tt:)  undertake  to  build  a 
church,  so  that  in  May  when  I  again  came  into  this  district  the 
Corner-stone  could  already  be  laid.*  On  this  occasion  Pastor 
Haverstick  was  also  present,  who  had  been  appointed  travel- 
ing preacher  for  some  months  by  the  Pennsylvania  mother- 
synod.  As  far  as  known  to  me  there  were  at  that  time  but  very 
few  Lutheran  Churches  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  I  found  one 
frame  Church  in  Ilillsboro,  Montgomery  county,  which  was 
served  by  Pastor  Scherer,  and  two  block  churches  in  Union 
county,  not  far  from  Jonesboro.  The  first  Lutheran  Church 
in  Illinois  built  of  brick  was,  as  far  as  I  know,  that  in  Wabash 
county,  of  which  Pastor  Haverstick  and  I  laid  the  corner- 
stone. Among  other  things  Bro.  Haverstick  told  me  how  he 
fared  in  St.  Clair  county,  not  far  from  Belleville.  He  came 
into  a  district  where  a  number  of  Lutheran  families  lived  who 
thought  themselves  wiser  than  their  neighbors ;  for  when  Pas- 
tor H.  offered  to  preach  for  them  they  gave  him  the 
answer:  "We  need  no  priests;  over  yonder  live  some  ignor- 
ant Germans,  they  might  perhai^s  be  glad  if  you  would  come 
to  them."     I  would  like  to  knt)w  how  these  over-wise  people 


•April  2.^,   1836,  was  the  date  of  the  corner-stone  laying  of  the  Jorrlan 
Greek  Church. 


63 

have  fared  since  then,  and  whether  their  descendants  became 
children  of  the  same  spirit/'' 

From  Carmel  I  went  southward  to  Shawneetown  on 
the  Ohio  river.  Here  1  was  forced  to  put  up  at  an  ale-house 
with  very  rough  company.  Rather  than  stay  with  the  godless 
people  in  the  house  I  stayed  with  the  horses  and  cattle  in  the 
stable  for  a  time,  where  T  felt  more  comfortable  than  in  the 
counsel  of  the  ungodly  where  the  scornful  sit.  From  Shaw- 
neetown my  way  led  through  a  tract  at  that  time  uninhabited 
for  about  a  hundred  miles,  to  Jonesbord,  Union  county .|  In 
this  southern  part  of  lllinios  there  were  at  that  time  two  or 
three  small  congregations  which  had  previously  been  visited 
and  served  by  Lutheran  preachers.  The  families  in  these 
congregations  had  almost  all  moved  from  North  Carolina. 
But  tiue  unitv  did  not  exist  among  them,  and  they  had  been 
unable  to  keep  any  preacher  long.  Two  block  churches  had 
been  begun,  but  not  completed ;  congregational  schools  there 
were  none :  the  youth  grew  up  without  instruction,  and  the 
weeds  gained  the  upper  hand.  My  arrival  as  a  Lutheran 
preacher  attracted  no  special  attention ;  still,  the  meetings  dur- 
ing the  week  and  on  Sunday  were  attended  by  gradually  in- 
creasing numbers ;  the  scattered  flock  gathered  again,  and  the 
desire  began  to  grow  that  the  congregations  might  soon  be 
provided  with  a  resident  preacher. 

Tiie  difference  in  manner  of  living  between  Pennsylva- 
nians  and  North  Carol inans  was  striking.  Among  the  lattei 
corn  and  ))ork  were  the  customary  food,  garden  vegetables 
were  little  used.  The  Pennsylvanians  on  the  other  hand  used 
besides  wheat  bread  also  rye,  corn  and  buckwheat  bread,  veg- 

♦A  different  spirit  prevailed  in  other  sections:  in  Waliash  Co.  Rev. 
Heyer  found  some  Germans  so  staunch  in  their  Luthei-anisra  that  "they 
positively  declare  they  cannot  reccivi  (he  Lord's  Supijer  from  any  minister 
t'xctpt  one  who  belongs  to  their  church;  nor  would  they  be  persuaded  other- 
wise."    Luth.  Obeerver,  April  I.'').  1S36. 

JA  letter  dated  Union  Co.,  Illinois,  February  29,  IS.'iG,  is  found  in  the 
Lutheran  Observer,  .April  15,  18?.<>.  In  it  he  writes:  "I  liave  not  spoken, 
nor  I'o  1  intend  hereafter  to  say  much  about  the  b.ardshipc  and  privations 
which  must  necessarily  be  endured  by  one  who  undertakes  an  exploring 
agency  in  ihe  far  West.  It  requires  an  excellent  constitution  and  an  en- 
thusiastic zeal  to  persevere  in  an  undertaking  of  this  kind.  You  are  not 
hence  to  infer  that  I  am  discouraged:  no,  through  the  grace  of  God,  I  am 
resolved  to  go  on,  and  hope  that  much  good  will  retsult  from  our  misaiouary 
exertions." 


64 

etables  in  abundance,  potatoes  and"beans,  cabbage  and  turnips, 
and  dried  fruit;  milk,  l)utter,  cheese  and  honey  are  also  gen- 
erally used  by  them.  J'lax  and  tow  is  usually  spun  in  Penn- 
sylvania families,  cotton  in  North  Carolina  families.  Iv. 
Union  county  few  people  had  stoves ;  most  shifted  with  open 
fire-places.  The  draft  through  the  cracks  in  the  walls,  through 
windows  and  doors,  was  unpleasant,  and,  sitting  by  a  great 
fire  of  logs,  one  was  half-roasted  on  one  side  and  half-frozen 
on  the  other.  In  Wabash  county  the  dwellings  were  tightei, 
and  almost  every  family  was  provided  with  one  or  more  stoves. 
In  neither  place,  however,  was  there  a  lack  of  hospitality ;  all 
seemed  willing  to  give  of  what  they  had. 

After  a  stay  of  several  weeks  in  Union  county,*  where  I 
preached  the  Gospel  and  administered  the  Sacraments  on 
week-days  and  Sundays,  I  crossed  the  Mississippi  for  the  first 
time  somewhere  north  of  Cape  Girardeau,  and  almost  reached 
the  Iron  Mountains,  where  the  richest  iron  ore  in  the  world  is 
found.  In  this  southeastern  section  of  Missouri  there  were 
German  settlements,  but  mostly  from  North  Carolina.  I  be- 
came acquainted  with  a  young  candidate  (Rev.  F.  Picker)  who 
ministered  among  the  people.  He  had  studied  in  Halle,  the 
congregations  were  satisfied  with  him,  but  he  belonged  to  no 
Synod.  Why  this  young  well-educated  theologian  had  as  it 
were  concealed  himself  in  such  a  remote  district  was  strange 
and  puzzling  to  me. 

On  my  return  from  Missouri  in  March  I  saw  the  people 
living  along  the  Mississippi  still  engaged  in  gathering  and 
hauling  their  corn.  When  I  asked  why  they  had  not  done  this 
work  in  fall,  the  following  explanation  was  given:  "In  April 
when  the  ice  and  snow  melt  in  the  North,  the  Mississippi  gen- 
erally rises  so  high  that  our  low-lying.  Imt  most  fertile  fields 
are  under  water  for  weeks.  As  soon  as  the  land  becomes  dry 
enough  we  plant  our  corn.  In  June  or  July  we  work  between 
the  rows  with  a  cultivator  in  order  to  destroy  the  weeds.  In 
August  the  intermittent  fever  begins  to  rage ;  in  September 
and  October  almost  everybody  suffers  from  this  disease,  and 
is  unable  to  work  in  the  fields  until  the  winter  has  l)rought 

•Cf.  Luth.   Oba.,   May  C,   and  June  10,   183G. 


65 

recovery  ;  thus  it  fcets  to  be  February  or  March  before  we  can 
Iiaul  our  corn  home."  1  thought  to  myself:  In  such  a  district 
I  would  ncit  li\"e.  even  thouj^h  the  grain  brouglit  forth  fruit  ai'. 
luuHhed  fold.  And  there  were  no  German  farmers  Hving 
among  them. 

In  April  I  visited  some  of  the  central  counties  of  Illinois. 
When  I  came  to  Ilillsboro,  Montgomery  county,  I  went  to 
Pastor  Daniel  Scherer,  and  was  fraternally  welcomed  by  him. 
Even  if  not  ({uite  the  first,  Bro.  Scherer  was  certainly  one  of 
the  first  Lutheran  preachers  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  His  mem- 
bers lived  in  and  about  Hillsboro,  having  moved  there  from 
North  Carolina.  As  far  as  I  could  se'e  a  churchly  spirit  pre- 
vailed among  these  people.  They  had  not  only  called  a  pas- 
tor, but  also  built  a  church  where  they  assembled  diligently  to 
make  use  of  the  ordained  means  of  grace.  In  may,  1830,  Pas- 
tor D.  Scherer  had  been  appointed  by  the  North  Carolina 
Synod  as  missionary  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  but  he  did  no; 
reach  his  destination  until  July,  1831.  In  Union  county  he 
preached  in  Friedens  and  in  St.  John's  Church,  and  in  August 
he  visited  the  brethren  in  the  faith  140  miles  farther  north  in 
Montgomery  county.  During  these  two  months  he  preached 
nineteen  times,  bajnized  forty-five  children  and  one  adult,  and 
gave  Communion  to  sixty-two  persons.  In  1832  he  moved 
from  North  Carolina  to  Hillsboro,  and  from  there  visited  the 
scattered  members  in  the  various  regions  of  the  State.  This 
faithful  servant  of  the  Lord  has  for  a  long  time  rested  from  his 
labors,  but  is  still  held  in  grateful  remembrance  by  many.  His 
son,  F.  R.  Scherer,  is  pastor  in  Iowa,  and  the  brothers  Harkey 
and  Pastor  A.  Trimper  come  from  the  Hillsboro  congregation. 

Alter  I  had  rested  for  several  days  with  Bro.  Scherer  I 
continued  my  reconnoitering  tour  northward  to  Pekin  and 
Peoria.  Whenever  I  heard  of  German  settlements  while  I 
was  on  my  way,*  I  visited  them  and  supplied  them  as  time 
and  circumstances   would  permit   witli  the  Word  and  Sacra- 


*He  seems  also  to  have  used  a  gazetteer,  which  was  noi  alway.^  reliable. 
He  found  a  place  called  Germany,  four  miles  northeast  of  Springfield,. which 
Peck's  niinois  Gazetteer  stated  wae  settled  by  Pennsylvania  Germans.  He 
went  there,  but  found  very  few  Germans,  and  became  acquainted  with  only 
oue  German  family  from  Ohio. 


66 

nients.  One  day  T  also  came  into  a  district  where  none  but 
New  Englanders  lived,  true  Yankees  (in  the  good  sense  of  the 
term).  They  were  Congregationalists.  I  preached  for  them 
twice,  and  they  expressed  the  wish  that  I  remain  with  them  as 
their  permanent  preacher.  These  peojDle  are  quick  and  clever 
in  adapting  themselves  to  new  homes.  In  this  respect  they 
excel  even  the  Pennsylvanians.  At  times  I  also  came  to  dis- 
tricts inhabited  only  by  recent  immigrants.  Among  them 
every  thing  was  done  differently  from  what  was  to  be  seen 
among  the  North  Carolinans  and  Pennsylvanians,  and  among 
the  Yankees.  One  could  immediately  see  from  their  huts,  fences 
and  fields  that  they  did  not  exactly  understand  working  with 
wood.  P)Ut  in  spite  of  the  difificulties  and  privations  with 
which  they  had  to  contend,  most  of  them  were  of  good  cour- 
age. Hope  of  better  times  served  to  encourage  them.  Man) 
who  had  been  in  the  country  five  or  six  years  already  had  a 
numl)er  of  cows,  sheep  and  swine,  and  a  supply  of  salted  and 
smoked  meat  such  as  they  had  never  been  able  to  enjoy  in  the 
father-land.  Some  asserted  that  they  had  made  more 
progress  here  in  five  years  than  poor  people  in  Germany  made 
in  fifty.  In  respect  to  church  matters  there  was  an  important 
difiference  also,  depending  upon  whether  they  came  from  North 
or  South  Germany.  In  the  case  of  some  it  was  also  seen  that 
tlie  false  illumination  had  given  them  a  perverted  tendenc}-. 
Many  of  the  descendants  of  these  then  new  settlers  now 
l)elong  to  tlie  wealthiest  inhabitants  of  the  State  of  Illinois, — 
and  I  hope  many  of  them  are  also  faithful  members  of  our  Lu- 
theran Zion. 

The  roads  from  Peoria  to  Chicago  were  at  that  time  not 
passable,  and  this  prevented  me  from  going  farther  north.  In 
the  l^eginning  of  May  I  was  again  in  Wabash  county,  where, 
as  has  already  been  stated,  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  Union 
Church  was  laid..  y\.t  this  corner-stone  laying  no  Reformed 
preacher  was  present,  for  none  lived  in  Illinois  at  that  time. 
and  there  resided  in  Illinois  only  one  Lutheran  ])reacher  be- 
longing to  an  Evangelical  Synod.  Now,  in  1868,  there  arc 
more  than  a  Imndred  preachers  connected  with  us.  In  view 
of  such  an  cxtraordin.'iry  increase  one  might  well  exclaim: 


6; 

Ciottes  Wort  mid  Lnlliers  Lelii% 
\'ergehet  nun  und  ninimer  mehr. 

From  \\'abasli  county.  Bro.  Haverstick  returned  to  hi=. 
home  in  Penns_\lvania.  Jn  June  I  started  for  home,  and  after 
an  absence  of  six  months  I  came  home  safe  and  sound  to  my 
family  in  Somerset.*  How  often  I  preached  during  this  time, 
how  man}-  persons  I  baptized,  to  how  many  I  gave  Commun- 
ion, and  how  many  miles  I  traveled  during  this  long  journey, 
I  cannot  say  from  memory,  and  I  can  find  nothing  concerning 
it  among  my  papers.  One  thing,  however,  I  still  know  well ; 
namely,  that  the  gracious  Father  in  Heaven  protected  me  dur- 
ing all  this  time  from  sickness,  harm  and  danger.  To  my  Lord 
and  .Saviour  he  glory  and  praise  for  this  now  and  ever. 

I^'rom  July  to  November.  1836,  I  was  engaged  in  work  in 
Cambria.  Indiana.  Clearfield.  Huntingdon,  etc.,  counties,  whcve 
at  that  time  many  districts  were  already  inhabited  by  Luth- 
erans,— but  very  few  preachers  among  them.  As 
many  know  from  experience,  the  traveling  preacher  is  at 
times  received  in  a  very  friendly  manner,  but  at  times  also  very 
indifferently  Among  the  zealous  and  faithful  members  of  our 
Church  who  were  always  glad  when  they  were  visited  by  an 
ordained  Lutheran  preacher,  the  most  eminent  was  Father 
Giilich,!  in  Clearfield  county.  He  frequently  accompanied  me 
when  I  had  announced  Church  services,  to  show  me  the  wa}-, 
and  to  introduce  me  to  the  people.  He  frequently  prayed : 
"O  Lord,  send  laborers  into  Thy  harvest."  At  times  he  went 
a  hundred  miles  to  attend  a  meeting  of  Synod ;  and  then  he 
never  failed  to  make  an  urgent  plea  for  traveling  preachers. 
In  his  family  Christian  discipline  and  order  prevailed.  One 
Monday  morning  when  I  came  to  his  home  I  noticed  that  my 
purse  was  gone:  but  whether  I  had  lost  it  on  Saturday,  Sun- 
day or  Monday  1  could  not  tell,  fcir  I  had  not  used  it  for  two 
or  three  days,     leather  Giilich  and  his  children  thought  that 

♦Account  of  his  return  journey  in  Lutheran  Observer,  June  24,  and  July 

2f>,  1836. 

J  Who  had  been  appointed  lay-reader  by  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod. 
See  letter  of  August  31.  1836,  givins  account  of  work  in  that  month  in 
Lutheran  Observer,  September  2.3,  1836. 


68 

we  should  go  back  over  the  road  by  which  I  had  come,  and 
hunt  for  the  lost  purse.  I  thought  one  might  almost  as  well 
look  for  a  needle  in  a  hay-stack.  In  less  than  an  hour  the 
oldest  son  had  his  horse  saddled  and  rode  away.  Before  even- 
ing he  returnctl  and  brought  purse  and  money  with  him;  he 
had  found  it  almut  nine  miles  from  the  house  on  the  main 
road.  I  would  gladly  have  given  him  some  compensation  for 
his  trouble,  but  no,  of  such  a  thing  parents  and  children  would 
not  hear.  I  afterward  sent  him  a  neatly-bound  hymn-book, 
of  which  he  made  good  use.  I  entertain  the  hope  that  Father 
Giilich's  descendants  still  walk  in  his  Christian  ways. 

In  the  course  of  this  summer  I  also  became  acquainted 
with  other  souls  eager  for  salvation,  and  children  of  God.  In 
general  the  i)eople  attended  the  meetings  on  week-days  and 
Sundays  in  l^rge  numbers ;  the  Word  of  the  Cross  made  a 
strong  and  deep  impression  on  many  hearts.  The  children 
were  brought  to  Holy  Baptism,  the  adults  came  to  Confession 
and  to  the  Holy  Communion ;  their  souls  fainted  for  the  Bread 
of  Life.  Of  course  there  were  also  such  as  had  spent  years  in 
remote  regions  without  Word  and  Sacraments  and  were  there- 
fore grown  wild. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

In  November,  1836,  owing  to  peculiar  circumstances  I 
was  called  to  a  new  field  of  labor.  Efforts  had  been  made  at 
various  times  to  establish  an  English  Lutheran  congregation 
in  PiUsburg;  but  so  far  unsuccessfully.  The  Synod  of  Wesr 
Pennsylvania  at  its  meeting  held  in  October  had  resolved  to 
make  another  attempt,  and  appointed  three  of  its  members  to 
preach  in  Pittsburg  in  rotation.  Those  thus  commissioned 
were  N.  Scharretts,  J.  Martin,  and  C.  F.  Heyer.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  November  I  unexpectedly  came  to  Bro,  Martin  at 
Williamsburg.  "You  come  just  at  the  right  time,"  he  imme- 
diately said,  'T  have  just  received  a  letter  from  Bro.  Scharretts 
in  which  he  tells  me  that  he  announced  services  in  Pittsburg 
for  next  Sunday,  but  being  indisposed  he  cannot  undertake 
the  journey,  and  asks  me  to  go  in  his  place.  But  it  is  not 
convenient  for  me  either,  for  I  have  announced  Holy  Com- 
munion for  next  Sunday,  and  dare  not  disappoint  the  people. 
Thus  it  comes  to  your  turn,  if  the  imdertaking  in  Pittsburg  is 
not  to  fail  in  the  very  beginning."  To  get  further  information 
from  Bro.  Scharretts  concerning  the  appointment  made  I  im- 
mediately set  out  again  across  the  Allegheny  Mountains  in  a 
snow-storm.  At  11  o'clock  at  night  I  reached  Ebensburg. 
At  1  o'clock  I  proceeded  farther  in  the  stage ;  and  at  eight  in 
the  morning  I  surprised  Bro.  Scharretts  in  Indiana  by  my  un- 
expected visit.  He  was  unwell,  but  able  to  be  up,  and  we  had 
no  fear  at  that  time  that  this  promising  and  gifted  young  fellow- 
laborer  would  in  a  few  weeks  be  called  from  our  midst.  My 
stay  in  Indiana  was  brief,  for  in  the  afternoon  I  drove  back  to 
Ebensburg,  where  I  had  left  my  horse ;  on  Wednesday  I  was  in 
Somerset,  where  I  had  business  to  attend  to,  and  on  Saturday 
I  arrived  in  Pittsburg.  Mr.  G.  Weyman,  a  quiet  but  Christian 
man,  took  a  specially  active  part  in  the  establishment  of  an 
English  congregation  in  Pittsburg.  On  Sunday  morning  and 
evening  I  preached  in  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 


70 

On  the  following  Tuesday  seven  or  eight  heads  of  families 
came  together  to  discuss  what  further  could  and  should  be 
done  to  attain  our  purpose.  Among  other  things  it  was  re- 
solved to  accept  with  thanks  the  promised  assistance  of  the 
West  Pennsylvania  Synod.  Further,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  look  for  a  suitable  building  where  meetings  could 
be  Vjeld  in  future.  All  were  urged  to  hunt  up  the  English- 
speaking  members  of  our  Church  in  and  around  Pittsburg, 
and  to  encourage  them  to  take  part  in  the  establishment  of  an 
English  Lutheran  Church. 

Some  weeks  after  this  beginning  had  been  made  Bro.  J. 
Martin  went  to  Pittsburg  and  preached  very  acceptably  in  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  When  I  came  to  Pitts- 
burg the  second  time  the  Unitarian  Church,  on'  Smithfield 
street,  had  been  rented  for  our  use  for  six  months.  At  the 
first  meeting  in  this  building  a  Constitution  was  proposed, 
adopted  and  signed  by  eleven  or  twelve  heads  of  families. 
Soon  after  this  I  received  instructions  from  the  Missionary 
Society  to  remain  in  Pittsburg,  to  carry  on  the  work  which 
had  been  begun.  Our  good  Brother  Scharretts  could  take  no 
further  part,  for  he  was  transferred  to  the  Church  triumphant 
toward  the  end  of  1836.*  On  December  30  or  31  I  attended 
his  funeral.  The  congregations  in  Indiana  and  Blairsvillc, 
which  he  had  built  up  with  much  labor  and  self-denial  on  the 
foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself 
being  the  chief  corner-stone,  are  now  able  each  to  support  a  pas- 
tor of  their  own.  The  seemingly  small  beginning  in  Pittsburg 
has  also  made  blessed  progress.  The  congregation  is  now 
large  and  prosperous,  and  already  counts  two  daughter  or  sis- 
ter congregations,  one  in  Birmingham  and  another  in  Alle- 
gheny. 

The  first  German  Lutheran  congregation  in  Pittsburg  was 
also  started  in  January,  1837,  under  the  following  circum- 
stances. For  a  long  time  there  had  been  a  German  congrega- 
tion in  Pittsburg  consisting  of  Lutherans  and  Reformed,  and 
served  alternately  by  a  Lutheran  and  then  for  a  time  by  a  Re- 

*Biographical  sketch  by  Rev.  Heyer  in  Lutheran  Observer,  January  13, 
1837. 


71 

formed  preacher.  Pastor  Kemmerer,  a  member  of  the  Re- 
formed Synod,  was  its  preacher  from  1830  to  1837.  A  large 
majority  of  the  congregation  belonged  to  the  Lutheran 
Chuich.  It  therefore  seemed  no  more  than  right  that  a  Luth- 
eran preacher  should  preach  for  them  occasionally.  I  ap- 
plied to  Pastor  Kemmerer  asking  permission  to  preach  in  the 
Church.  But  quite  unexpectedly  he  informed  me  that  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  Church  Council  he  could  not  let  any 
one  i-nter  the  pulpit  in  his  place.  When  I  asked  the  Church 
Council  I  was  told  it  had  been  resolved  that  none  but  the  in- 
stalled pastor  should  conduct  services  in  the  congregation.  In 
this  state  of  afifairs  I  thought  to  myself  that  if  Lutherans  are 
thus  to  be  cut  ofif  from  the  opportunity  of  hearing  a  preacher 
of  their  Confession,  I  must  try  to  serve  my  brethren  in  the 
faith  elsewhere. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  week  the  announcement 
was  made  that  on  the  next  Sunday  afternoon  German  services 
would  be  held  in  the  rented  church.  At  the  time  appointed 
a  considerable  number  of  attentive  and  devout  hearers  was 
present.  After  the  service  it  was  resolved  to  establish  a  Ger- 
man Lutheran  congregation,  and  the  names  of  those  willing  to 
join  it  were  noted.  Two  weeks  later  a  constitution  was 
adopted  and  church  ofificers  were  elected.  Thus  with  God's 
help  an  English  and  a  German  Lutheran  congregation  were 
started.  After  six  months,  however,  both  congregations  be- 
came somewhat  embarrassed,  for  the  Unitarians  had  called  a 
preacher,  and  we  could  no  longer  rent  their  building.  For  a 
time  we  had  to  use  a  school-house  ;  then  we  obtained  permis- 
.=ion  to  use  the  old  court-house.  Finally  we  felt  that  if  eacii 
congregation  was  to  continue  and  grow,  it  must  have  services 
every  Sunday,  and  in  the  forenoon.  To  make  this  possible 
the  Missionary  Society  appointed  one  of  our  most  able  young 
preachers.  Candidate  E.  Frey,  to  take  charge  of  the  English 
congregation.  He  came  to  Pittsburg,  but  had  to  leave  us 
again  after  a  short  time  because  the  sulphurous  gas  or  thick 
smoke  of  the  coal  developed  the  beginnings  of  rheumatic  gout 
in  him.  The  dear  brother  had  to  sufifer  much  from  this  dis- 
ease later,  and  finally  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs  entirely,  and  for 


72 

years  has  had  to  spend  most  of  his  time  in  a  wheel-chair. 
Soon  after  Bro.  Frey  left  us  a  student  from  Gettysburg  was 
sent  to  the  English  congregation,  D.  John  McCron,  who  now 
lives  in  Baltimore.  On  Sunday  evenings  he  frequently  preach- 
ed in  various  churches  and  because  of  his  oratorical  gifts  was 
well  liked.  The  small  flock  of  English-speaking  Lutherans 
increased ;  the  German  congregation  also  grew  from  Sunday 
to  Sunday.  But  now  we  were  confronted  with  the  difficult 
task  of  building  two  new  churches.  The  Germans  were  all 
poor,  and  among  the  English  there  was  only  one  wealthy  mem- 
ber. The  German  congregation  made  the  first  move,  and 
bought  a  building  lot  on  Sixth  street,  between  Smithfield  and 
Grand  streets.  Work  was  begun,  but  soon  had  to  be  stopped 
again  because  part  of  the  lot  was  demanded  as  belonging  to  a 
small  side  street.  Now  good  advice  was  precious ;  some  were 
ready  to  become  disheartened,  but  the  majority  decided  to 
buy  a  more  valuable  lot  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Grand 
streets.  That  we  might  be  able  to  complete  the  church  build- 
ing I  undertook  a  difificult  journey  to  collect  funds,  and  gatli- 
ered  about  $1300.  Without  this  assistance  from  other  congre- 
gations the  church  would  not  have  been  finished.  At  times 
I  w^as  poorly  received  and  got  nothing,  or  was  sent  ofif  witl"" 
small  gifts ;  on  other  occasions  I  received  more  than  I  had  ex- 
pected. Two  or  three  miles  from  Hanover  there  lived  a 
rather  wealthy  man,  unmarried  but  no  longer  young.  When 
I  came  to  his  house  he  was  hauling  corn.  I  went  into  the  field 
to  him,  and  laid  my  cause  before  him ;  he  promised  to  give  me 
something  if  I  waited  until  he  had  his  wagon  loaded,  and 
would  drive  to  the  house.  I  did  not  put  my  hands  into  my 
pockets  to  look  idly  on,  but  helped  him  load.  When  we  had 
come  to  the  house  the  old  bachelor  went  into  a  side  room  and 
brought  as  his  contribution — ten  cents.  I  remonstrated  with 
him,  but  more  than  twenty-five  cents  I  could  not  get  out  of  his 
apparently  copper-sheathed  heart.  At  the  next  house  the 
people  were  more  friendly  and  more  ready  to  contribute  a  dol- 
lar toward  our  church  building. 

In  reference  to  my  collecting  tour  and  our  undertaking 


73 

in  Pittsburg  I  wrote  to  the  editor  of  the  Lutheran  "Kirchen- 
zeitung"  on  October  6,  1839: 

"Dear  Brother  in  Christ!  My  present  business  is  indeed 
the  most  important,  but  also  the  most  difficult  I  have  ever  un- 
dertaken in  the  service  of  our  Evangelical  Zion. 

"You  know  that  the  Central  Missionary  Society  more 
than  two  years  ago  commissioned  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
our  Lutheran  brethren  in  Pittsburg.  In  January,  1837,  the 
first  English  and  at  the  same  time  the  first  German  Lutheran 
congregation  in  Pittsburg  was  started  by  writing  down  the 
names  of  members  and  the  installation  of  officers.  In  thi 
nexc  year  (1838)  the  first  German  Lutheran  Church  in  Alle- 
gheny was  established,  and  on  January  i,  1839,  a  small  church 
was  already  erected  for  this  congregation.  Since  last  spring 
Brothers  McCron  and  Miller  have  been  called  as  fellow-labor- 
ers in  these  congregations.  Mr.  McCron  serves  the  Englisii 
congiegation,  and  Mr.  Miller  the  German,  i.  e.,  in  Allegheny  ;  so 
that  three  Lutheran  preachers  are  stationed  where  four  yeais 
ago  there  was  none.  In  reliance  on  God's  help  and  the  assistance 
of  Christian  friends  two  lots  of  ground  have  been  bought,  one 
for  a  German  and  one  for  an  English  church.  The  German 
church  is  to  be  under  roof  in  a  few  days,  and  is  forty-five  by 
sixty  feet.  The  English  church  is  to  be  forty  by  seventy  feel. 
This  undertaking  is  naturally  accompanied  by  great  outlay  of 
money,  and  cannot  be  accomplished  without  assistance  from 
other  congregations.  Upon  the  advice  of  the  brethren  in  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania  I  have  for  some  time  devoted  myself  to  the 
work  of  gathering  contributions  for  the  German  congrega- 
tion, the  money  to  be  applied  for  the  completion  of  the  church. 
So  far  I  have  been  graciously  received  and  have  had  my  re- 
quests granted.* 

"May  the  Lord  strengthen  me  in  my  undertaking  and 
make  the  spirits  of  men  willing  to  give;  it  is  God's  cause. 

"C.  F.  H." 


•In  the  fall  of  1839  a  panic  hindered  the  collection  of  money,  but  also 
gave  occasion  for  some  very  agreeable  surprises.  Lutheran  Obeerver,  No- 
vember 15,  1839. 


74 

The  first  German  Lutheran  Church  in  Pittsburg  was  con- 
secrated on  April  5,  1840.  In  reference  to  this  event  the  fol- 
lowing was  published  in  the  "Kirchenzeitung" : 

"Pittsburg,  April  9,  1840. 

"Greatly  beloved  Brother!  The  first  Sunday  in  April  wao 
a  joyful  and  blessed  day  for  all  true  friends  of  Lutheranisni  in 
Pittsburg.  Among  the  many  various  churches  in  this  busy 
town  there  is  at  last  to  be  found  a  German  Lutheran  Church. 
Yes,  after  long  and  persistent  efforts  our  undertaking  has  now 
so  far  prospered  that  we  have  been  able  to  consecrate  and  dedi- 
cate to  the  service  of  the  Triune  God  the  newly  built  First  Lu- 
theran Church,  on  last  Sunday,  April  5.  Seven  preachers  anc' 
about  1200  people  were  in  the  church  and  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  persons  outside  who  could  find  no  seats  in  the  church. 
The  collection  amounted  to  about  $132,  quite  a  sum  at  the 
present  time  and  for  such  poor  people  as  compose  this  con- 
gregation. A  German  day-school  is  taught  by  an  able  teachei 
in  the  basement  of  the  building,  and  a  singing  society  of  thirty 
or  forty  members  has  been  formed;  the  church  is  forty-five 
by  sixty  feet  and  contains  on  the  two  floors  one  hundred 
eight  benches. 

"It  must  be  very  gratifying  to  our  Missionary  Society  and 
the  Christian  friends  who  started  this  work  and  assisted  us  so 
far,  to  learn  that  our  German  brethren  in  the  faith  in  Pitts- 
burg, who  formerly  were  scattered  sheep  without  a  shepherd, 
are  now  provided  for  and  have  their  own  church  and  school 
where  they  can  worship  according  to  the  doctrines  and  usages 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  The  congregation,  il 
is  true,  still  has  a  large  debt,  and  will  for  a  time  still  need  the 
care  and  assistance  which  have  so  far  been  given  it.  I  there- 
fore hope  that  those  brethren  who  have  promised  me  tO'  do 
something  more  in  their  congregations  for  the  poor  German 
Lutherans  in  America  will  fulfil  their  promise  very  soon. 

"In  two  of  my  reports  formerly  printed  I  noted  the  receipt 
of  about  $700.  The  following  is  a  continuation  of  the  co!i- 
tributions — about  $700. 

"For  the  kindness  with  which  I  have  as  a  rule  been  re- 


75 

ceived  and  assisted  during  my  difficult  collecting  tour  I  here 
again  most  heartily  thank  my  beloved  brethren  and  othei 
friends.  May  the  Lord  richly  reward  them  in  time  and 
eternity.     Amen! 

"Respectfully  yours, 

"C.  F.  H." 

In  a  few  years  the  congregation  became  so  large  that  it 
was  again  considered  necessary  to  build  a  larger  church.  This 
was  built  on  a  hill  not  far  from  the  new  court-house.  Afterward 
in  the  period  of  decay  or  defection  from  the  Lutheran  founda- 
tion of  faith  in  many  congregations,  this  congregation  joined 
the  Missouri  Synod,  To  this  move  a  part  of  the  congregation 
was  rot  agreed  ;  a  new  congregation  was  formed  under  the  name 
of  the  Second  Lutheran  Church  in  Pittsburg.  Pastor  G.  A- 
Wenzel  is  its  present  pastor.  The  other  congregation  is 
served  by  Pastor  Miiller,  and  has  recently  started  a  new  church 
building  which  is  to  cost  $90,000.  Both  congregations  ars 
purely  Lutheran  in  their  confession,  and  they  still  say : 

Den  alten  Luthers-Glauben 
Soil  uns  Niemand  Rauben. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  how  far  many  of  the  preachers  who 
call  'hemselves  Lutheran  have  gone  astray.  For  this  decline 
we  must  in  great  part  thank  the  Lutheran  Observer  from  the 
time  when  Dr.  P>enj.  Kurtz  was  editor  of  this  paper.  The 
Observer  of  that  time  regarded  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per an  adiaphoron,  and  represented  the  Lutheran  doctrine  as  ai: 
antiquated,  unreasonable  doctrine,  believed  by  but  few  in 
America  and  Europe,  and  compares  it  with  Mormonism  ani 
the  "Holly  Rollers."  O  thou  poor  Observer!  The  Lutheran 
doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper  has  been  successfully  main- 
tained and  defended  in  most  recent  times  by  the  greatest  theo- 
logians. If  our  half-learned  preachers,  and  doctors,  too,  would 
only  study  this  doctrine  more  carefully  they  must  speak  with 
respect  of  a  doctrine  which  is  recognized  by  believing  Lutii- 
erans  as  the  "keystone  of  the  glorious  edifice  of  Christian  doc- 
trine" in  our  Church. 

In  1838  the  English  congregation  bought  a  building  lot 


76 

on  Seventh  street,  not  far  from  Smithfield  street.  Mr,  G. 
Weyman,  who  was  born  in  Philadelphia  and  was  formerly  s 
member  of  Zion's  congregation,  undertook  to  build  the  church 
almost  alone.  Besides  the  large  sum  which  he  contributed, 
he  had,  when  the  church  was  finished,  a  claim  of  $t 2,000 
against  it,  which  the  church  has  gradually  paid  off.  In  Oc- 
tober, 1840,  the  church  was  consecrated ;  the  West  Pennsyl- 
vania Synod  was  present,  and  Prof.  S.  S.  Schmucker  preached 
the  consecration  sermon.  The  church  was  crowded,  although 
the  number  of  members  was  still  small.  From  that  time  on 
the  congregation  progressed  rapidly.  Many  who  had  kept 
aloof  because  they  feared  the  undertaking  might  fail  now 
gained  confidence  and  put  their  hands  also  to  the  work.  Mr. 
G.  W.,  who  is  still  among  the  pilgrims  on  earth,  must  be  grati- 
fied that  he  can  say:  "Hitherto  the  Lord  has  helped." 

This  congregation  is  now  making  preparations  to  build 
a  new  church,  and  has  bought  a  lot  at  a  cost  of  $20,000.  May 
the  Lord  add  His  blessing! 

To  the  account  here  given  by  Rev.  Heyer  himself  of  his 
activity  from  18 17  to  1840  we  may  add  a  few  remarks  and  re- 
flections. Of  his  ability  as  a  pastor  and  church-worker  there 
would  seem  to  be  no  doubt  whatever ;  nor  of  his  popularity. 
Wherever  he  went,  and  whatever  work  he  undertook,  he  was 
always  successful.  Among  pastors  no  less  than  among  the 
congregations  he  was  honored  and  respected,  perhaps  the  more 
so  because  he  had  spent  two  years  in  a  German  University. 
In  1828  we  find  him  not  only  the  secretary  of  the  West  Penn- 
sylvania Synod,  and  agent  for  the  Sunday  School  Union  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  but  also  a  member  of  the  committee  to 
draft  a  constitution  for  a  Sunday  School  Union  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  Delegate  to  the  Maryland  Synod,  a  director  ot 
the  Seminary  at  Gettysburg,  and  on  the  editing  committee  foi 
the  Zeitschrift.  In  1829  Heyer  with  Rev.  Keller  was  ap- 
pointed on  a  committee  to  confer  with  a  similar  committee  of 
the  Reformed  Synod  concerning  means  for  encouraging  the 
Franklin  Institute  at  Lancaster.  (In  1834  when  the  removal 
of  Pennsylvania  College  from  Gettysburg  was  talked  of,  it 


77 

was  evidently  he  who  suggested  its  removal  to  a  small  town 
rather  than  to  Lancaster  or  York,  in  a  letter  to  the  Observer, 
February  4,  1834.)  In  1839  he  was  a  member  of  a  committee 
appointed  to  examine  Dr.  Demme's  translation  of  Josephus. 
Of  h:s  popularity  among  the  congregations  we  have  proof  in 
the  number  of  calls  he  received  to  various  congregations,  and 
the  success  with  which  he  labored  in  a  number  of  them.  Where 
•others  failed,  he  knew  how  to  succeed.  But  he  was  preemi- 
nently a  pioneer.  There  seems  to  be  no  indication  of  any  un- 
fitness for  settled  work  except  his  own  restless  nature.  A 
congregation  might  prosper  under  him,  but  he  was  always 
dravv'n  to  new  fields  where  foundations  were  to  be  laid  or  relaid. 
This  period  of  Father  Heyer's  life  falls  into  an  interesting 
time  in  the  history  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  The  year  1817 
marks  the  beginning  of  a  movement  back  towards  strict  Luth- 
eranism.  In  America  the  progress  was  slow  and  at  first  seem- 
ed retrogressive  rather  than  progressive.  Two  names  may  be 
mentioned  as  those  of  leaders :  Dr.  S.  S.  Schmucker  and  Dr. 
Benjamin  Kurtz.  The  former,  having  studied  at  Princeton, 
was  perhaps  more  Reformed  than  Lutheran,  and  more  Union- 
istic  than  anything  else.  His  aim  was  to  bring  about  a  general 
union  of  Protestant  Churches,  and  he  became  the  father  of  the 
Evangelical  Alliance.  Of  Dr.  Kurtz  Father  Heyer  has 
spoken  above  enough  to  indicate  his  position,  as  well  as  his 
influence  as  editor  of  the  Lutheran  Observer.  In  spite  of  these 
leaders  a  more  conservative  tendency  was  growing,  which 
finally  culminated  in  the  formation  of  the  General  Council  in 
1866.  Father  Heyer  fell  under  the  conservative  influence,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  from  his  active  life  he  would  seem  to  have 
had  little  time  for  study  and  investigation.  He  started  witli 
lax  views  and  practices.  In  1820  it  was  he  who  held  perhaps 
the  first  revival  meeting  in  a  Lutheran  Church  of  which  there 
is  a  published  record.  He  himself  sent  the  following  account 
to  the  "Religious  Remembrancer,"  from  which  it  was  quoted 
twenty-one  years  later  by  the  Lutheran  Observer : 


;8 

Cumberland,  Jan.  22,  1820. 
Mr.  Editor :  Having  witnessed  the  good  effects  which  re- 
sult from  reading  the  account  of  revivals  of  religion,  I  am  in- 
duced to  communicate  the  following  statement  of  facts,  whicli, 
if  you  think  proper,  may  be  published  in  the  Remembrancer : 
On  the  second  Thursday  in  June,  1819,  it  pleased  the  Lord  to 
pour  out  His  Spirit  upon  some  of  the  catechumens.  It  was  a 
day  long  to  be  remembered  with  gratitude  and  praise.  From 
this  time  the  most  of  my  young  people  paid  the  greatest  atten- 
tion to  religious  instruction.  The  awakening  became  more 
general  among  them.  Thirty-seven  made  a  public  confes- 
sion of  religion  and  were  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Table  on  the 
first  Sabbath  in  July.  In  the  morning  when  the  hand  of 
brotherly  fellowship  and  love  was  extended  unto  them,  I 
preached  from  Luke  8:  4-15.  All  present  were  moved;  many 
allowed  they  had  never  witnessed  a  more  affecting  scene.  The 
Lord  was  verily  in  the  midst  of  us.  From  that  time  the  con- 
gregation began  to  wear  quite  a  different  aspect.  Our  prayer 
meetings  were  crowded  and  solemn.  The  young  men  who  had 
been  admitted  as  members  of  the  church  formed  a  praying 
society  among  themselves  to  meet  on  Saturday  evenings.  A 
Sabbath  School  was  commenced,  which  numbers  130  scholars; 
a  tract  society  has  also  been  formed  among  the  young.  Since 
the  second  Sunday  in  June  the  revival  has  continued  and 
spread.  On  the  first  Sunday  in  this  month  twenty-four  new 
memljers  were  added  to  the  church.  From  fifteen  to  twenty 
have  since  expressed  their  desire  to  be  admitted ;  several  others 
appear  under  serious  impressions,  but  are  not  yet  willing  tc 
yield.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty  were 
aimed  at  some  of  the  most  wicked  characters  in  this  place. 
They  now  rejoice  that  the  Lord  has  snatched  them  as  brands 
from  the  burning.  Examples  might  be  mentioned,  but  not 
desiring  to  be  tedious,  let  it  sulifice  to  say  that  the  change 
among  the  old  and  young  has  been  great  and  visible.  Tli'^ 
Lord  grant  that  we  may  l)e  steadfast,  unmovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord, 
but  unto  Thy  Name  be  all  the  praise.     It  is  by  Thy  grace  that 


79 

we  are  what  we  are,  and  all  the  glory  and  the  praise  belong 
to  Thee.     Amen! 

F.  Heyer. 

The  spirit  of  revivalism  was  almost  universal  in  those  days, 
and  it  is  said  that  it  affected  even  the  Roman  Catholic  congre- 
gations in  some  parts  of  the  country.  But  the  above  account 
has  no  suggestion  of  the  objectionable  features  which  after- 
ward became  prominent  in  the  controversy  as  to  New  IMeas- 
ures.*  In  1834  Dr.  S.  S.  Schmucker  prepared  for  the  students 
at  Gettysburg  the  lectures  on  Homiletics  in  which  he  speaks 
of  such  "Seasons  of  Religious  Reviyal."  "If  it  pleases  God 
to  bestow  a  special  blessing  on  your  labors,  and  this  you  will 
.  have  reason  to  expect,  if  you  have  by  special  efforts  sought  it 
in  the  proper  way,  you  will  have  what  is  termed  a  revival  of 
religion."  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject  he  refers  to  his 
lectuies  on  Pastoral  Theology  and  to  Edwards,  On  Revivals. 
He  warns  against  preaching  at  such  times  on  controversial 
subjects,  against  haste  in  offering  the  consolations  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  all  abstruse  discussions.  Naturally  a  wide  range  is 
left  for  varying  methods.  Father  Heyer's  account  may  be 
termed  that  of  a  religious  revival,  and  yet  fall  short  of  even 
Dr.  Schmucker's  conception  of  a  revival,  for  there  are  no  evi- 
dences of  a  special  effort  on  the  pastor's  part  to  bring  about 
such  a  result,  nor  on  the  other  hand  any  neglect  of  catechetical 
instruction.  Later  Father  Heyer,  though  perhaps  always 
more  lenient  than  many  others  toward  other  churches  and  un- 
Lutheran  methods  of  work,  stood  strongly  on  the  side  of  those 
who  formed  the  General  Council,  and  would  keep  Lutheranisn^ 
distinct  and  firm. 

L'nionistic   tendencies   and    pulpit    fellowship   were    very 

•In  his  report  as  President  of  the  West  Pennsylvania  Synod.  1832,  Rev. 
Heyer  thus  alludes  to  rovivale  after  montionin.e  that  some  have  occurred 
In  Lutheran  congregations:  "You  also  know  that  a  difference  of  opinion 
on  the  subject  of  revivals  exist  nmonc;  our  ministers  and  members.  But 
since,  as  Lutheran  Christians,  we  boast  of  our  liberty,  and  do  not  feel  our- 
selves bound  either  by  popes  or  bishops  to  ancient  usages  and  rites,  yet  we 
must  be  particularly  careful  to  build  unon  the  foundation  if  our  Evangelcal 
Zion,  and  never  to  lose  sight  of  the  landmarks  of  our  Lutheran  Church.  In 
many  places  and  congregations  it  is  easy  and  most  advisable  to  adhere  to 
the  old  European  Church  order  and  ,"ilscipline.  But  It  Is  equally  necessary 
In  other  places  that  we  In  some  respects  pursue  the  same  measures  adopted 
by  other  denominations  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  if  we  wish  to  main- 
tain the  number  and  efflciency  of  our  congregations.  Judge  not:  let  this 
be  our  motto."     Lutheran  Observer,  1832,  p.  55. 


So 

common  in  those  days.  Father  Heyer  speaks  of  the  pecuHar 
conditions  in  some  of  his  congregations,  where  there  were 
Union  churches  and  even  union  church  councils.  The  distinc- 
tion between  the  Lutherans  and  the  German  Reformed  was 
specially  slight  in  those  days,  perhaps  because  of  the  Prussian 
Union  formed  in  1817.  But  this  unionism  also  he  outgrew, 
so  that  in  1840  he  stood  out  boldly  against  a  connection  of  the 
Lutheran  Mission  work  with  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners of  Foreign  Missions. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  Father  Heyer  was  during 
these  years  prepared  for  foreign  mission  work.  His  natuial 
disposition  inclined  him  to  a  roving  life.  His  failure  to  re- 
ceive the  call  to  the  Lehigh  county  congregation  and  the  ap- 
pointment as  traveling  preacher  encouraged  the' inclination 
within  him.  His  generally  rapid  success  in  congregations, 
and  frequent  calls  still  further  tended  to  free  him  or  keep  hiiri 
free  from  local  attachments  of  a  permanent  character.  His 
zeal  for  the  work  of  gathering  men  into  the  church  added  its 
quota  in  leading  him  to  accept  traveling  appointments,  tak- 
ing him  away  from  home  for  months  at  a  time.  His  sympa- 
thies widened  and  his  courage  increased.  The  knowledge  he 
had  gained  among  the  American  people  he  felt  fitted  him  for 
work  among  the  heathen.  The  death  of  his  wife  (in  1839) 
still  further  loosened  the  bonds  binding  him  to  a  home.  His 
experiences  in  crossing  what  were  then  practically  uncivilized 
portions  of  America  accustomed  him  to  the  habit  of  enduring 
all  things,  and  freed  him  from  that  dependence  on  the  com- 
forts and  luxuries  of  life  which  frequently  prove  a  hindrance 
to  the  missionary.  When  a  missionary  to  foreign  lands  was 
talked  of  seriously  no  man  could  be  found  better  suited  to  the 
work  than  Father  Heyer.  To  his  qualifications — only  his  age 
was  spoken  of  as  a  hindrance — must  be  added  the  fact  of  hi.--, 
large  acquaintance  in  the  church  and  the  confidence  of  the 
church  in  him.  Few  men  would  have  undertaken  the  work 
as  he  did,  few  could  have  done  so,  and  very  few  would  have 
been  asked  to  do  so  by  the  church  itself.  In  India,  or  any 
other  field  that  might  have  been  chosen,  the  work  must  have 
been  pioneer  work,  and  Father  Heyer  was  preeminently  the 
pioneer  of  the  church  of  those  days. 


m 


Gaylord  Bros, 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N  .  Y 

PAT.  JAN.  21. 1908 


